Her Mysteries Unfolds
by Frantic Emotions
Summary: ON HIATUS! WILL BE REWRITTEN!
1. Prologue and Mystery1

**"Her mysteries"**

**Prologue:**

14th century

"The elders and the parliament from the _Great four_ kingdoms, have decided that all alice-users should stop using and relying on their own alices; thus, taking away the alice in each of alice-users for our own good and for all the common-good." a man said, holding a scroll in his hands. The people who have heard what the man said gasped and murmured. "The elders from each of the _four_ kingdoms shall gather here, today, to do the ancient ritual." he added, folding the scroll and leaving the stage.

Then, an old man in his late 50's stood up and faced the crowd. They all stopped talking and bowed their heads as a sign of respect for _him. _"We know that this _is_ hard for all of you to accept. But if we do not _stop_ using our alices, I'm afraid that _she'll_ never _stop. _This may be the greatest sacrifice that we alice-users should do." the old man said sadly, he was the king of the land.

Just then, the big door opened. Several men and women came walking in, clad in black cloaks. They were about to do the ritual when suddenly, a woman came in. The crowd gasped when they saw _her. _The woman, about 45 years-old, had a murderous look in her eyes. "So, I suppose you're planning to _this _stupid ritual. Hmph!! Don't you think you all are too exaggerated?!" She said.

"Leave now, Menllin!!" the king ordered.

"What if I don't want to?" she mocked.

"Then I guess we also have to take away your powers then!! Guards, Close the doors!!" the king ordered and the knights followed.

"Whoa whoa whoa. . .Why would you include me?! I don't think this is too appropriate for you to do, Zyon!" she taunted, black tornado formed in both of her hands.

"I'm getting bored!(the black tornado disappeared from her hands as she put her hands down) I guess I better get going!" she said, but the doors were locked. She smiled evilly and looked back at the king.

"You'll regret _everything_, Zyon. I guess this _is_ the story of Leira, am I right? It really _did_ happened! But remember this, Zyon. I curse your _granddaughter _to be like your _wife! _A stupid plain writer _she_ is. But, in the 21st century, _her_ first story will come true! What happened in _our_ history and today shall happen _again_! _Her_ story will bring misery in all man-kind! Try using your alice of _changing_ it, and that _will_ bring more trouble to all of you! " she exclaimed and was captured by the knights. She, too, was included in taking her alice. The king sighed and looked at the cold floor, thinking of everything _that_ happened before. He looked at the elders(men and women in black cloak) and he nodded his head. They continued doing the ritual and after doing it, all the alices of the alice-users have vanished into thin air.

"Arrgghhh!! You'll regret doing this!! Give me my powers back, Zyon!!" she exclaimed, while being dragged away by the knights. The king ordered them to throw her away in the dungeon.

21st century

-Sakura Residence-

It was 5:56 in the morning.

"Not again! Why do I always _dream_ of that?!" a certain brunette asked herself. Her name was Mikan Sakura, 13 years old. She had an auburn hair that reached her waist and chocolate hazel orbs. She stretched her arms as she yawned, she looked at the clock on her bedside table and,

"Oh NO! I'm late!" she brunette almost screamed. She stood up, fixed her bed, ran to the bathroom, then brushed her teeth and took a quick bath. After taking a bath, she dressed up, ran downstairs, went to the dining room and ate her breakfast with a quick flash. She wiped her mouth after drinking her milk. She stood up, grabbed her bag and ran towards the door.

"Bye ma! Bye pa!" she said while going out of the house. "Take care." her parents said.

-Alice Academy-

She walked inside of the classroom, greeting everyone as usual.

"Mikan! Come here!" the twins called out namely Anna and Nonoko. The curious Mikan walked near them. They were actually looking at the students passing by the hallway, in short, they were at the classroom's door. Suddenly, a guy with cerulean eyes and spiky-blonde locks passed by. He was a bit tall, handsome and every girl's dream boy. His name is Ruka Nogi, 14 years old and Mikan WAS secretly admiring him. The moment Ruka looked at Mikan, she hurriedly went back to her seat, leaving the two girls dumbfounded. Anna and Nonoko followed Mikan when the guy left. "Ayhiee. . .She's blushing!" the two girls teased.

"Stop it you two!" Mikan hissed back, covering her blushing face with her hands.

"Want some pictures of him?" a cold voice said. Mikan saw the 5 pictures on her table and looked up to whoever placed it there. It was Hotaru Imai, her BEST friend, who placed it. Hotaru was known as the ice-queen for her cold attitudes. She had an amethyst eyes and raven hair that reached her shoulders.

"T-tha--" she was about to get the pictures when Hotaru grabbed it, fast.

"5000 yen. . .for each!" she smirked.

"Such a meanie!! It's all yours now, I don't want it anyway!!" she exclaimed.

"You sure?" Hotaru asked, waving the pictures in front of her.

"Y-YEAH!!" she said, pouting.

"It's your choice, I guess I should sell this to his fan girls. I'll be rich!" Hotaru said, dollar signs on her eyes.

"Anyway, Hotaru. . .does. . ._he_ know?" Mikan asked out of the blue. Hotaru looked at her for 5 seconds before answering her question.

"Well, from what you're showing _him_, I bet he knows." she answered and Mikan stood up.

"Oh NO!" she exclaimed.

"I-. . .I-I'll just go s-somewhere." she added and walked out of the room. No one was at the corridors when she went out. It seems that everyone were at their own respective classrooms, preparing for their new lessons. She sighed as she continued walking, her full attention was at the cold floor. Suddenly, she accidentally bumped on _someone. _She snapped back from reality and bowed her head.

"Gomenasai. . ." she blurted out, not looking at that _someone. _She gasped, when she realized that it was Ruka who she bumped onto. He stared intently at her hazel eyes but she decided to look away. She continued walking slowly but she stopped when Ruka said "Wait!". She looked back at him, shyly.

"Y-Yes?!" she asked. Ruka walked near to her and said, "Mikan Sakura, right? From class1-A?" he asked.

"H-. . .H-Hai." Mikan answered.

"Is it true? That you have a crush on me?" he asked again, but this time, Mikan didn't answer. She didn't know what to say, speechless.

"That means you're a first year high school student. Well, I'm a second year. But uhm. . .(he looked at her from head to toe) You're pretty, but, I don't like girls like you. It's disgusting on my side, though. I prefer beautiful girls **with** experience. I could see that you're not one of them. Sorry bout that. I'm just being frank with you." he said and walked away.

"_You're pretty, but, I don't like girls like you It's disgusting . I prefer beautiful girls with experience. I'm disgusting?!" _she thought and tears started to form in her eyes. She cried and ran inside the CR. No one was in there, too, so she didn't enter one of those cubicles. She sobbed. She didn't expect that Ruka will insult her that way. Suddenly, she heard the door open so she stopped sobbing.

"Baka. . ." the voice said. She smiled, but she can't help but cry. She knew it was Hotaru and perhaps her friend know what happened. Hotaru hugged her, she never saw her Mikan cried like that even before they met.

"You _were_ right Hotaru, he's a bad guy after all." Mikan said, hugging her friend back.

"You _should_ have listened to me before. I _told_ you he wasn't worth it." she replied back, breaking the hug.

"I should leave you for a while, have some time alone." Hotaru said. Mikan nodded and her friend went out of the CR.

"I promise,. . .I won't fall again! Guys are all the same. . .Maybe, I should just be a _writer _someday and I won't fall again!" she said to herself. She wiped her tears and washed her face. She went back to the classroom and everyone looked at her.

"Where have you been, Ms. Sakura?!" Mr. Jinno asked.

"Oh-oh!" she whispered and chuckled nervously.

"Detention after class." the strict teacher said and Mikan's jaw dropped.

"B-B--But--" she was cut off when, "Do you have any complaints, Ms. Sakura?" he asked and Mikan pouted. She went back to her seat, forgetting the insult she received this morning.

"Mikan, are you okay? What happened to you? Your eyes are puffy. Did you cry?" Anna asked in a whisper. She smiled at her friend and shook her head, "I'm fine." she answered back.

The bell rang, signalling that it was lunch time. Everyone went out of the room except for Mikan and Hotaru.

"Are you okay now?" Hotaru asked coldly.

"Almost, if it weren't for the detention!" Mikan whined which made Hotaru giggled, a little.

"So. . .any plans?" the ice-queen asked again.

"What plans?" Mikan asked back with a confused look on her face.

"Try looking for another guy? Continue admiring him? Move on? What?"

"Hmm. . .3rd choice: Move on! I decided to just continue pursuing my dreams and concentrate more on studies!" Mikan said happily and raised a fist on the air. The ice-queen glared at her.

"Studies? You? Unbelievable!" she said as she rolled her eyes.

"Big meanie!. . ." Mikan muttered and sighed.

"I should have listened to you before. . .I'm ugly and disgusting, that's what he said!" she added. Hotaru just looked at her, listening to what she's going to say next.

"So, I promised myself that I wont fall again! It hurts you know. . ." Mikan said, stuttering.

"You know what, what you felt for him is not love. Just a simple crush. So if I were you, I wouldn't promise anything like that to myself. I mean,. . ." Hotaru said.

"Whoa. . .Hotaru, the cold person in the whole academy, is giving advice to her stupid friend! Hahaha. . ." Mikan laughed out loud, but she stopped when Hotaru gave her a death glare. She grinned and chuckled nervously.

"Kiddin'" Mikan said and made a peace sign.

"I don't even know why I'm wasting my time on listening and giving advice to someone like you!" Hotaru said, being cold again.

"Oh c'mon Hotaru, I'm just kidding! Anyway, thanks! For listening and. . .What were you saying again?"

"Shut up!"

"Mou,. . ." Mikan pouted.

"Take it back if I were you." Hotaru said.

"But. . .you know that I don't break any promises. Once I made a promise, I always fulfil it."

"It's never to late to take it back, you know."

"B-but. . .NO! I will never break it!" Mikan said and stuck her tongue out.

"It's up to you, then. Who knows if a _new_ guy comes here and captures _your_ heart." Hotaru said, walking out of the room.

"Hey! Hotaru, **take that back**!" Mikan shouted, following her friend.

After classes, Mikan went straight to the detention room. She did what she was told as punishment. After that, she went straight home. After dressing up and eating dinner, she went to her study table inside her bedroom. She opened her _notebook, _starting to think of a plot of what _story_ she's going to right. It took her for about 3 weeks to finish the story. She put a special _lock _on it and kept it hidden under the mattress of her bed. She didn't want anyone to read _it_,she didn't know why.

"Hey! This past few weeks, you've been busy writing. . .something. . .mind to tell me what is it?" Hotaru asked.

"Nah. It's not even important, you know." Mikan answered.

"_it's about my weird dreams." _

-Somewhere-

"_She _wrote the _story_. . ." a guy said.

"Story?!" a woman asked.

"Yes ma'am." the guy answered.

"Continue watching _her, _we can't let what happened in the past to happen again." the woman said, the guy nodded and walked out, leaving the woman alone. Just then, another guy came in, but he seemed to be older in his late _50's_.

"_Zyon_." the woman said as he saw the guy.

"Any updates, _Leira_?" the guy asked.

"Your _granddaughter_. . .wrote _the_ story. . .Just like what Menllin said." the woman answered.

"Do we have to continue the _agreement_?" the woman added.

"Of course! We can't let _Kyomori_ and _Ayaka _be disappointed. They have been our long time friends." the guy exclaimed.

"But we can't force the _kids _to do what they do not want to do." the woman answered back.

"I know, but this is for the best. I'll tell our son and _Yuka _that everything's settled. You know that we are doing this for _everyone's_ good." the guy answered.

"I know. . .but. . . We can't let _her_ get pregnant. I've heard that that **boy **was such a playboy and he had many girlfriends. We do not know if he had touch on one them."

"She wouldn't get pregnant that easily. They will do that after 11 years, and I hope that everything will be settled when that day comes." the guy said.

Chapter 1: "Three Signs"

3 years later

-In Italy-

A 17-year-old guy was staring at the small window. He had a crimson red orbs and messy raven hair that makes him look. . .H-O-T, as the girls say. His name is Natsume Hyuuga. Natsume and his parents were on a private plane. Their destination: Japan. Natsume sighed. He didn't want to leave Italy. He had his reasons though.

1. Italy was the place he loved.

2. He could do anything in Italy that no one could stop him, even his parents.

3. Fun. He had so many girlfriends and he would always hang out in the bar.

4. Everything was perfect in Italy.

And lastly,

5. He had his own place away from his parents. He was only forced to leave Italy, for some _business. _

"When will I get back to Italy?" he asked his parents coldly.

"When we finished our _business. _In the mean time, you'll be studying at the Alice Academy. Your uncle owns it and your cousin is there too." his father said.

"Could you just tell me what the hell is that stupid business?" he asked again, annoyed.

"You'll know when we get to Japan." his mother said. He wasn't close to his parents. In fact, he hated them. Since he was a kid, his parents didn't pay much attention to him. They were always busy for work, work and work. They always work and that they have forgotten about their son. But what he didn't know, they were only doing it for him, for his own good and his future. If it weren't for them, he wouldn't be alive, but if it weren't for them, he wouldn't be a cold person. He rolled his eyes and looked at the window again. The plane started to take off and hours later, they will reach Japan in no time.

-Imai Residence-

"What happened to you? Have you eaten something or do you have fever?" Hotaru asked, looking at the **55 **story papers her baka friend made. Mikan giggled.

"I'm fine Hotaru. I just remembered the promise I made 3 years ago." Mikan answered.

"You look addicted to it." Hotaru said.

"Well I guess I am addicted to it. After all, this is what I want." Mikan smiled.

"Are you sure you really wanted this?" Hotaru asked making Mikan confused.

"What do you mean? Of course this is what I want." Mikan answered with a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm talking about the promise that you won't fall again." Hotaru said, eyeing Mikan. Mikan kept quiet and turned serious at what Hotaru said.

"Y-Yeah. . .I guess. . ." she answered and smiled, bitterly. She stood up and roam around Hotaru's room, while Hotaru was reading one of her stories. Mikan looked at the photo frames, on top of the drawers. Her eyes widen in shock when she saw a _guy _that looked exactly like **RUKA. **

"H-Hotaru. . .wh-who i-is this g-guy in the p-picture with y-you?" Mikan asked, stammering.

"Him?!" Hotaru asked as she stood up, walked near Mikan and looked at the picture.

"Him. . .He's Riko." Hotaru answered, sadly.

"Riko?!" Mikan blurted out and Hotaru just nodded.

-Alice Academy-

It was 7:30 in the morning when a 16-year-old brunette was running down in the big corridors. She woke up late again as usual.

"I'm late again! Please, Kami-sama. . .Not Jinno-sensei. . ."she prayed in her thoughts.

Suddenly, while she was running, she accidentally bumped on _someone_ again. She fell on the cold floor, making her short skirt flip up. She hurriedly put her skirt in place and stood up.

"Gomenasai. . ." she bowed her head and picked her things up.

"Watch where you're going,. . .polka-dots." a cold yet masculine voice said.

"_polka-dots?" _Mikan asked in her thoughts. A vein popped out in her head, her eyes widen and she clenched her fists. She stood up again, ready to face her opponent.

"YOU BIG PERVERT!!" she screamed at him, her face was red because of anger.

"Shut up, you ugly big-mouthed girl!" the guy hissed back.

"Look who's talking. I already apologized but you're here insulting me. Who the heck are you, anyway?" Mikan exclaimed.

"Like I care. You're the one who bumped on to me, it's your fault then, not mine. You're asking me who I am? Tch. I'm not interested to get to know you well." the guy said arrogantly.

"Well, I'm not interested on knowing you too Mr. Arrogant. Whoever you are." Mikan shouted and walked away.

"What a day I'm having." Mikan/Natsume muttered under their breaths.

Mikan entered the classroom. She sighed in relief that there was no teacher yet.

"Ohayo gusaimas!" she greeted everyone.

"Morning."

"Morning Mikan-chan." her classmates greeted back except for Hotaru. She attemtep to hug Hotaru but she failed, when Hotaru pushed her away.

"Baka. . .Stop doing that." she said.

"Hotaru, you're so mean!!" Mikan hissed back going to her seat.

The twins, Anna and Nonoko went to where she was seated.

"Ohayo Mikan-chan." they both said in unison and Mikan smiled at them.

"We were just talking about signs that we read." Anna said.

"Signs?" Mikan asked.

"Hai! Signs. Signs in finding your soul mate." Nonoko answered.

"Hehe. . .Sorry guys, but. . .Not interested. 100% sure, it won't happen." Mikan said.

"Oh c'mon Mikan, just for fun." the twins pleaded.

"Okay?" Mikan said.

"How many signs then?" Nonoko asked.

"3 signs would be fun." Anna said.

"Yeah. Sure." Mikan said.

"Then, hmm. . .The first sign will be. . .Ah! The first guy who enters that door, except for the teachers of course, will be a positive match for Mikan-chan." Anna said.

"What?!" Mikan exclaimed.

"Don't worry Mikan. It's only for fun, though."

"Fine!"

Then, students of class 4-A went back to their places when the first teacher entered the room.

"Good Morning my lovely students!" Narumi-sensei said cheerfully. Half of the class greeted him, while the others didn't.

"Well, you will be having a new classmate and please welcome him and treat him nicely. You may enter now." the teacher said as he signalled the 'new student' to come inside. The girls, except for Mikan and Hotaru, began to blush when they saw the guy.

"He's handsome"  
"He's so cute."  
"Ayhiee. . ." the girls said.

"Introduce yourself." the gay teacher said.

"Do I have to do that?" he asked. His cold voice caught Mikan's attention. She really wasn't participating because she was daydreaming again. She was thinking about what Hotaru said the other day and the sign that anna and nonoko gave her. Well, it's not yet complete, but the first sign came true! She looked at the guy who was standing in front and her eyes widen in shock.  
_It's him?!_ She thought. She looked at the two girls sitting in front of her and they looked back at her.

"Hey, Mikan-chan. The second sign is. . ." Anna uttered and looked at Nonoko. They smiled at each other, then turned to Mikan, smiling evilly. Mikan was a bit confused on what they were doing.

"What?" she asked in a whisper looking at Anna then to Nonoko and vice versa.

"If ever he'll be your seatmate, then what we said earlier shall come true. He'll BE your true soul mate." Nonoko answered.

"Huh?! What kind of sign is that?!" Mikan asked, standing up from her chair, getting everyone's attention.

"Ehem. . ." Narumi-sensei faked a cough. She grinned and chuckled nervously.

"Sumimasen. . ." Mikan said and her attention drifted to the guy in front. She saw him smirked, she looked away and sat down.

"_She's. . .Interesting." _

"But, hey! You know what? I kinda heard that he's _engaged_ at someone here at school. And that's the reason why he came here to Japan." Anna said to Mikan and Nonoko.

"Engaged?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah. When he was born, he was already engaged. His parents and the girls parents had an agreement that their child will be together. Well, that's kinda sad though." Anna answered.

"Hm. He won't be able to find his true love. His futures are already planned and he can't do anything to break it off." Nonoko continued.

"You two have watch too much drama series. Where did you get that information anyway, Anna-chan?" Mikan asked.

---

"Hyuuga Natsume. 17 years old. That would do." he said.

"Okay then, so who wants to be paired up with Natsume?" the teacher asked. Most of the girls raised their hands.

"Ah! What about Mikan-chan then? She's seating at the back and she has no partner. Seat beside her Natsume-kun." the teacher added. The girls turned to look at Mikan and gave her death glares. Natsume went to the back seat, he sat down and he smirked at his seatmate, who was Mikan. Anna and Nonoko smiled at Mikan, but Mikan was irritated.

"Wanna know the third sign?" Anna teased.

"Fine! What is it?" Mikan asked, angrily.

"Let him touch your hands, he'll be your soul mate." Anna said. She and Nonoko looked at Hotaru, and they all smirked at Mikan.

"That's all for today, free-time for you!" the teacher said and walked out of the class.

"What are you doing there, Mr. Arrogant, not to mention, PERVERT?!" Mikan asked.

"Didn't you hear what that gay teacher said?" Natsume asked.

"Well, I wasn't knida listening. Mind to tell me what he said?" she mocked.

"Tch. Shut up!" Natsume said.

"You're seating there because he told you to?! What a day!" Mikan said, standing up. She went near to Hotaru, who just eyed coldly at her.

"I need to tell you something." Mikan said and they went out of the room, heading to the girl's CR. No one was at the CR again, so Mikan said everything about Anna and Nonoko giving signs.

"I know." Hotaru said.

"You know?! All this time, you know what's going on?!" Mikan exclaimed.

"Yeah." Hotaru answered, coldly.

"I asked them to tell you about it. Guess I succeeded again." she added.

"But why Hotaru? I thought you were my best friend!" Mikan whined.

"I never said such a thing." Hotaru smirked.

"Meanie. . .So what if the third sign happens then? What will his fiancée say?" Mikan pouted.

"It's just for fun right? And why are you worried about his fiancée?" Hotaru asked.

"Yeah, why am I worried? I'm getting worried for nothing. Hotaru, I beg you, take back the sign. Please." Mikan begged, literally using her puppy-dog-eyes.

"No will do, Baka Mikan. . .Once I had a weird premonition, and ended up saying it, it will come true, you know." Hotaru said coldly, ignoring Mikan who looks like a real dog with it's tongue out.

"What if you are his true fiancée, Mikan?" Hotaru asked which made Mikan stood up.

"What?! Me?! His fiancée?! You're ill, Hotaru!! How can I be his fiancée?! I--" Mikan uttered, her eyes widen and she looked at Hotaru.

"HOTARU!!! Take that back!!" Mikan screamed, she was at the verge of crying.

"Oops!" Hotaru said, emotionless.

"Break your promise and I'll take it back." she added.

"I don't want to! I won't break the promise!" Mikan said, teary-eyed.

"It's up to you then. I can't do anything about that, though."

"FINE! I'm. . .taking the promise back. . . NOO!! I will never break my promise! And I assure you that premonition of yours that I becoming Natsume's fiancée will never come true." Mikan said in a fast tone. Good thing Hotaru wasn't a baka like her and she understood what Mikan told her.

"You sure? You know me very well, Mikan. Never did I had a mistake on my "premonition" kind of thing." she said to her.

"Could I ask you a question? Why do you want me to break my promise?" Mikan blurted out.

"Come to your senses, Mikan. You know very well that that "promise" of yours has no sense at all. Just because he insulted you, doesn't mean you have to do such a thing." Hotaru answered angrily. Well, she was right. What Mikan had promised makes no sense at all. But the reason why Mikan did that, was because she didn't want to feel the pain she felt before. Hotaru knows that of course, she only didn't want Mikan to regret what she's doing and end up crying again. She wants her to be strong enough to conquer that kind of emotion.

"I'm just wasting my time again." she added and walked out of the CR, leaving Mikan dumbfounded.

---

Mikan went back to the classroom and she noticed that Hotaru was kind of ignoring her. She went back to her seat. She covered her face with a shonen manga that placed on her table, she pretended that she was reading it. Suddenly, she felt warm hands on her. She looked at whoever did it and to her surprise, it was none other than Natsume Hyuuga.

"Taking someone's property with no permission?" he said coldly as he pulled the manga from her.

"_He. . .Touched my hand?!" _

"Sorry. . .W-Why d-did you touched m-my hand?" Mikan asked, stuttering.

"Getting too conservative, eh? Doesn't suit you. Simple. To get this." he said as he showed that manga and threw it at the trash bin.

"Hey! Why did you do that?!" Mikan asked.

"Tch. I don't want get infected by your baka germs. It's dirty and besides, it's ONLY $80. I could buy another one." he replied arrogantly.

"$80?! For just one book?!" she asked, stood up and went over to take the manga at the trash bin.

"Why did you took it?" he asked.

" It's too expensive! If you don't want it, then I would have it! Like you said, it's $80! I could imagine how rich you are, no wonder you have bad attitudes!" she said.

"Tch. Whatever." he said and rolled his eyes.

"_How rude, arrogant and boastful this guy is! Bloody bastard!" _she thought while staring at him.

"Fallen for me, polka?" he smirked.

"-scoff- Don't be so full of yourself, Mr." she said and looked away.

**to be continued**

**xheenie_cailiyu: **waaaah!!! how was it? please review!!! i wanna know your POV's kind of stuff!!! hehe...:D


	2. Mystery2

Chapter 2: " Expect the Unexpected"

-Sakura Residence-

When Mikan got home, she saw her parents were formally dressed.

"Uhm. . .Where are you going? Why are you two formally dressed? Are you attending a company party again?" Mikan asked her parents out of curiosity.

"Go to your room and take a bath. Make it quick." her father said.

"When you're through, where the formal dress. It's on top of your bed, we're going somewhere." her mother continued.

"Where? Why? What's the occasion?" Mikan asked again.

"No more questions! Just go upstairs and fixed yourself." her father said.

"Okay okay! Sheesh! What a weird day!" she said while going upstairs. Yuka, Mikan's mother, made sure that she was already at her bedroom before speaking up.

"Are you sure that it's a good idea? To get your one and only daughter get married with a **Hyuuga**?" Yuka asked.

"Yes, and besides, this is what my father wanted. For the best of everyone, to stop _her_." Wrel Sakura, Mikan's father, answered.

--

"Wow! What a beautiful dress!" Mikan said in an awe, when she saw the white spaghetti dress.

"But, where exactly are we going? What is the occasion?" she asked herself.

"Oh well, better get ready." she added.

After a while, Mikan was finished. She was clad with a white spaghetti dress that reached her above knees and she wore a 2.5-inched baby blue high heels. She was simple yet elegant looking. Her hair was in half pony-tail and the ends were curled. She put some light pink glittery lip gloss on her lips and light blush-on on her cheeks. She went downstairs and her mother saw her.

"Is it okay? I mean, . . .I feel awkward wearing this." she said.

"You look good in it." her mother complimented.

"Yes! I think this is the first time, that I've seen my daughter so. . .beautiful?" her mother teased.

"Mom?!" she pouted.

"I was just kidding. You've grown up so fast. Soon, you'll get married and have your own family." her mother said.

"Mom?! What are you saying?! I'm too young and yet you're talking about marriage and nonsense stuff!" Mikan said.

"What nonsense stuff are you talking about?! I've waited so long for you to grow up and I will wait again for you to be fully matured, get married and have your own children. I can't wait to see my cut little grandchildren, so,. . .make your growing up stage a little faster, okay?" her mother teased.

"Hon. Stop it, will ya?" Wrel asked.

"C'mon, the car's ready. Let's get going." he added. They all went out of the house, rode the car and drove off.

"Uhm. . .Dad? Why did you or we suddenly use this car? You said it's broken and that you're not letting me use it in school, even if we have a driver." Mikan said.

"It's not broken. I just don't want it to use it because it's brand new. It may have a scratch, droppings of bird and most importantly, the gas nowadays are too expensive." her father answered.

"So it's okay for you to let me walk everyday to school?!" Mikan asked.

"Why don't you take a taxi, bus or subway?" his father retorted back.

"Dad?! How could I take a taxi, bus or subway? You're not giving me my allowance." Mikan exclaimed.

"Oh, is that so? Well, I didn't receive my allowance yet."

"You're the owner of the company and you don't have an allowance? Too unfair! The car is more important than your own daughter."

"OK! Just keep quiet! I'll give you your allowance tomorrow!"

"Yippee!!"

"Mom?. . .Where are we going anyway?"

"You'll find out later, so just zip your mouth and don't make noise."

"Ok, fine! _What a crazy day!_"

-At a 7-Star Hotel-

-At a 7-Star Hotel-

"Have you met _her_?" asked Natsume's mother.

"Yeah. Why is she involve in that business you're talking about?" he asked coldly, but his parents ignored his question.

"What do you think about her?" his father asked.

"Don't tell me you're setting me up with her. Look, I don't need a fiancée or whatever. I just need to get back to Italy." he retorted back.

----

Mikan, along with her parents arrived at the 7-Star-Hotel. She looked up at the building with an awe.

"_What a nice place." _she was mesmerized.

When they entered the hotel, Mikan noticed and she wondered why the employees were greeting them. Well, maybe because of my dad, she thought.

"Mom?! What exactly is the reason why we are here?" Mikan asked her mother in a whisper.

"We're going to a _long-time-friend _of the family." her mother replied.

"Really?" she asked again.

"Yes, of course." her mother answered back.

----

An employee entered the room, walked over to Mrs. Hyuuga and whispered something to her. "Ma'am, they're here."

"Let them in." she whispered back and the employee just nodded as he made his way and open the door.

"This way please." he said promptly and went out. Mikan and her parents went inside the room, but she stayed behind them. The Hyuuga's and Sakura's greeted each other, except for Mikan and Natsume, but Mikan didn't saw Natsume since he wasn't around and she didn't even know that she her parents were talking with the Hyuugas. She was not interested in asking or knowing their names.

"Is this your daughter?" Mrs. Hyuuga asked when she saw Mikan.

"Ah! Yes, she is. Her name is Mikan." Mrs. Sakura replied.

"Oh! What a beautiful girl you have there." Mrs. Hyuuga complimented. Mikan smiled and said, "Thank you, ma'am." shyly.

"Where's your son?" Mr. Sakura asked.

"He needed to got out for a while." Mrs. Hyuuga answered.

Mikan felt that she was 'out of place' because she was the only TEENAGER, as she says.

"_Son? I just wish he's not old enough and if he has a sister." _

"Oh! There he is!" Mrs. Hyuuga pointed out when Natsume came in. Mikan looked back to see the 'son' and to her dismay, it was the person that she never wanted to see the most. NATSUME HYUUGA. She gasped and her jaws dropped when she saw him.

"_It's him?! What's he doing here?!" _

"Is that your son?" Yuka asked.

"Yes, his name is Natsume." Mrs. Hyuuga replied. Natsume bowed his head, greeted and showed respect for his 'elders'. How unusual of him. Natsume went near her and he smirked.

"So, it's you again. Hi there!" he said arrogantly. Mikan forced a smile and greeted him back.

"Good evening." she greeted and snubbed at him. She wanted to burst in anger, she was fuming.

"_Easy Mikan. This will end soon."_

"_You're more beautiful than I thought."_

"Why are we all standing here? C'mon, let's sit over there." Mr. Hyuuga said and they all followed.

(There positions: Wrel beside Yuka and Yuka beside Mikan. Mr. Hyuuga beside his wife and his wife beside Natsume. Mikan and Natsume, facing each other, with a long table in the middle.)

"So? Where were we? Ah! The engagement, yes." he added when they all sat down.

"_Engagement? What engagement?" _Mikan said, she didn't knew that she blurted it out loud.

"Natsume and you, Mikan, are already engaged, since birth." Mr. Hyuuga answered Mikan's question. She gasped. Her eyes widen in shock. She just can't believe it. Her, being Natsume's fiancée? She would rather die first than be his wife. Well, only for her. Many girls are wanted to be Natsume's girl, or rather, Natsume's fiancée.

"_E-Engaged? Me? With Natsume?" _she thought. She can't utter a single word.

"It wasn't planned by us, but both of your grandparents did." he added.

"Both your grandparents were like the best of friends, so they had an agreement that their grandchildren would be betrothed." Mr. Sakura explained.

"So, this was the business you were talking about." Natsume blurted out.

"I won't accept it." he added. _"Unless, she accepts it."_

"I. . .-scoff-&-sigh-. . .Y-You said I-I'm e-engaged?" Mikan asked her parents, stammering, and they both nodded.

"Then,. . .I can't do anything about it?" she asked again and her parents lowered their heads. She knew what they meant when they did that. She stood up, excused herself, and walked out of the room. She went to the CR and locked herself in one of the cubicles.

"I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! Why me?!" she screamed. She didn't care if there were other people in the CR and if they think she was getting crazy. Well, she was getting crazy or PARANOID because of you-know-who, Natsume.

"Hotaru's right again. . .I should have listened to her, but wait!. . .Oh No! No! No! NNOOO!!! He can't be my soul mate!!!" she screamed again which made the other ladies rushed out of the CR. They were scared of Mikan who they thought was going insane. She went out of the cubicle and washed her hands. She went out of the CR and she was surprised to him, again.

"What are you doing here? Are you following me or something?" she asked.

"Tch. Who's interested to follow an idiot like you?" he rolled his eyes.

"I was just asking oh Mr. ARROGANT!! Now, tell me, what are you doing here?!" she fired back.

"Maybe you were the reason why the ladies ran out of the CR. I heard someone screaming, I didn't know it was you. Well, now I know. Because you have an irritating voice which makes my ears and everyone's ears bleed." he said as he walked away.

"_Bastard! I HATE YOU!!!" _

----

Mikan went straight to the hotel's bar. She didn't want to go back to the room where her and Natsume's parents were, discussing about that marriage thingy. For the first time, Mikan drank a glass of alcohol, not only 1 but **15**!

"Miss? Miss? Are you alright? Are you drunk?" the bartender asked.

"Who? Are you talking to me? As in ME? I'm not drunk! It's just 15 glasses, I'm not yet drunk!" Mikan replied while wobbling.

"Miss, you're drunk. You better stop drinking now." the bartender said with concern.

"NO I'm NOT!! If I'm drank, then I couldn't count this glasses. Another 5 glasses please." she hissed back, but the truth is, she's drunk. Who wouldn't get drunk if you finished 15 glasses of alcohol and it is your first time?

"S-sir?!" the bartender said as he saw his 'boss'.

"Hmm? Sir?" Mikan asked and looked back. As she looked back, she saw Natsume.

"Natsume! Come! Let's drink! My treat!" she added as she pulled Natsume to sit on a high chair. She hiccupped.

"What happened to her?" asked Natsume.

"She was drinking non-stop, sir. She finished 15 glasses and she wants another 5 glass." the bartender replied.

"I see." he said., looking at Mikan who was leaning over at the counter top. He stood up and helped Mikan to stand up properly.

"Hey! -hiccup- Where are -hiccup- taking me? C'mon! -hiccup- Let's just drink, ne?" Mikan said between her hiccups.

"Stop it, Mikan!" Natsume said, he was a bit annoyed.

"I'm not drunk!" Mikan said as she stood up straight.

"See! I sober -hiccup- up." she added.

"Say what?" he whispered.

"Mom said,. . .We have to enjoy our teenage life! So, -hiccup- let's party! Let's enjoy! C'mon, let's drink!" she said, with her hands up in the air. She took a step and she almost fell, luckily, Natsume had caught her. She giggled and suddenly, she VOMITTED on him. Not exactly on his face, but on his polo shirt.

"Oi! That's my new polo shirt!" he shouted at her.

She giggled again and laughed out loud when she saw Natsume.

"Hahaha. . .You look -hiccup- miserable, Natsume!" she said and fainted.

Natsume groaned.

"Disgusting!" he muttered under his breath and carried her.

---

He went on a hotel suite room with Mikan on his arms. He gently lay her down on the bed.

"_What a disgusting girl." _

He was about to go inside the bathroom but he stopped when he heard her say:

"I don't want to get married! I won't get hurt again! The promise,. . .I can't break it. . ." she murmured while she's asleep.

"_Hurt again? Promise? What are you talking about?" _he said in his thoughts as he shook his head.

"I guess she's not ready. . ." he whispered.

**to be continued**


	3. Mystery3

Chapter 3: "Lover's Quarrel"-Back to the 'room'-

"Where is that girl?" Yuka asked worriedly.

Then, one of the employees entered the room, went near to Mrs. Hyuuga, and he whispered something to her left ear which made her laughed out loud.

"Don't worry. Natsume brought Mikan to a suite. She was drunk, and she vomited on him." Mrs. Hyuuga said, and the others laughed too.

"I'm sorry for what my daughter did to your son." Mr. Sakura apologized.

"No, it's alright and don't worry too much. Natsume won't harm your daughter, I assure you." Mr. Hyuuga said.

And blah blah blah. . .talking about Mikan's and Natsume's future and everything. . .

After their conversation, they left the hotel, leaving Mikan and Natsume alone.

(Natsume's family own that 7-Star Hotel, so, no wonder he knows the place too well)

-At the suite room-

Natsume groaned while removing the dirt on his shirt..

"What am I going to wear now?" he said while removing the polo shirt.

"Ah! My bag!" he said to himself.

He walked out of the room, with his polo shirt unbuttoned, showing half of his muscular chest. He was walking a bit faster because of the girls looking at him. He went to the pool area and he found his bag. He opened it and found tree shirts.

"Good thing I have a spare." he said with a relief and hurriedly went back to the suite. He saw the brunette, sleeping peacefully.

"Leave her like that or changed her clothes?" he asked. He walked nearer to the bed and sat beside her.

"She stinks!" he said and stood up, walking back and forth.

"_I better changed her clothes, but how? It would be easier if she's a kid. What if she suddenly woke up?" _

He didn't know what to do. For the first time, he was clueless and the reason is because of a certain brunette. Then, he had an idea. He went over to the dressing table and called for a maid. After 5 minutes of waiting, the maid arrived at the suite. She was a bit shocked to see a guy wearing a polo unbuttoned and she saw a girl sleeping peacefully.

"_Is this guy a maniac?" _the maid thought. _"He's kinda. . .Hot!!" _

"I want you to change her clothes." Natsume said to the maid and he went directly to the bathroom to take a quick shower. She had no choice but to follow him, so she changed her clothes, and she realized that Mikan was only drunk. After dressing Mikan up, she walked out of the room. He finished bathing and walked out of the bathroom. He noticed that only the two of them were left alone and he felt a little sleepy.

"Where am I going to sleep now? I can't sleep on the sofa, I'm not used to it. I can't sleep on the floor as well, nor on the bed." he asked again and groaned.

Mikan was sleeping on the bed, obviously. The bed was king-size that maybe 4 people could sleep together.

"I have no choice." he whispered and lay down on the sofa. He kept on moving, closed his eyes and opened it again. He can't fall asleep! Just then, his phone rang and someone came in.

"Did someone came in?" it was his mom on the other line.

"Yeah. What's with the bags?" he asked.

"It's for Mikan. Her other belongings are at the mansion. She'll be staying with us from now on." his mother answered.

"She will?! Why?!" he asked again.

"That's what in our agreement says, my dear."

"Whatever." he said and the line went dead. The others also left.

Later on, he fell asleep. . .on the bed!

-The next day-

Mikan tried to get up with heavy eyes.

"What happened?" she asked herself as she touched her head and tried to remember everything.

Just then, she realized that she was hugging something, or someone. She opened her eyes and when she looked at that someone, she screamed and sat up. Natsume was awaken by her scream. She grabbed the pillow and hit Natsume three times, but he covered her attacks.

"Where am I?! Why am I wearing a different shirt?! Where's my dress?! What did you do to me?! What happened?!" Mikan bombarded Natsume with questions, by shouting at his face.

"Shut up!! You're too noisy!!" he shouted back.

"So what if I'm noisy?! What have you done to me?! Oh NOO!! My life is ruined!! What am I going to do?! My studies?! My dreams?! My teenage life?! My future?! They're all lost and ruined because of you!! NNOO!!" she shouted and was at the verge of crying.

"Would you SHUT UP?!!" he was already annoyed.

"I didn't do anything to you! I'm not interested with girls like you and I have taste when it comes to girls! Besides, YOU, had done something wrong to me last night!" he added.

**BANG **His words were like bullets of gun and she was….hurt?

"W-who? M-me? You wish!! Why would I do something to you?! A-and. . .I-if I d-did something w-wrong, w-w-what is it t-then?!" she nervously hissed back.

"You don't remember what you did?" Natsume asked seductively, nearing to her face. He smirked, seeing her uneasy and she was blushing.

"N-no. . .W-what did I-I d-do?" she asked inching away from him.

"You want me to tell you?" he said again, nearing to her.

"_Oh God, what is it that I did wrong?!" _she thought and closed her eyes.

"What you just did, was sooo. . .unpleasing." he said to her ears.

"U-unpleasing?. . ."she nervously asked and he nodded with a smirk on his face.

"You wanna know?" he said again. She shook her head and covered her face with the blanket, she was about to cry. She whined.

"You vomited on my shirt, baka! Now pay up!" he said. She stopped sobbing and looked up to him with an angry face.

"That's it?! I vomited on you?!" she shouted.

"What do you think a drunk person will do next? Why? You were thinking of something different, are you? Like a. . .kiss?" he teased.

"No! Pervert! Well, sorry if I vomited on you." she said.

"Sorry is not enough, you should pay me. $500 to be exact." he smirked.

"$500?! You've got to be kidding me?! Just wash it, if I were you." she retorted back.

"I'm far more better than you, so pay up! I threw it away, what else am I going to wash then?" he asked teasingly.

"Then why did you threw it?" she asked.

"It stinks, like you. And I do not know how to wash it. You're rich, aren't you? So pay up!" he answered.

"Not as rich as you think! I may be rich like others say, but not as rich like you! I was raised by my grandparents and I'm used to hard life. $500?! Just buy another one. I won't pay you." she pouted.

"$1000 is my allowance every month. I used half of it to buy that shirt and you'll just vomit on it?!"

"You have another $500, right?"

"I used it too."

"-scoff- You're unbelievable." she said and looked at her wristwatch.

"WAAH!!! I'm late for school! I need to go home!" she added and hurriedly hopped out of the bed.

"You don't need to." Natsume said.

"And why not?!" she asked.

"You don't need to go home. Look at that. Your uniform, your shoes and your bag are all here." he replied and pointed at the two bags, placed on the sofa. Mikan looked at what Natsume was pointing and she realized that it was her stuff for school.

"Oh! I see." she said.

"Your other things are at my place." he said again and she looked back at him.

"W-what? Y-your. . .p-place?!" she asked and he looked at her with bored expression.

"Yeah." he answered boringly.

"But. . .Why?!"

"She said you'll be staying at my place from now on and that you, or rather, we, have to get used to it."

"Huh?! Why would I want to do that?!" she exclaimed.

"Ask them. You didn't say anything that you agree or not with the marriage."

"You didn't agree with it too, right?"

"They will never listen to me, and they thought that you agreed. Tch. That's what you get for not saying anything." he rolled his eyes.

"Ok! Fine! I'll take a shower then." she said and entered the bathroom.

After a while, she finished taking a bath and changing into uniform.

"Such a SLOWPOKE! What took you so long?" Natsume said. Mikan smug at him.

"Your turn." she said and Natsume went inside the bathroom.

When Natsume was through with bathing, he went out and noticed that Mikan was not at the room anymore, even her belongings were gone. He saw a piece of paper, placed at the dressing table. He took it and he read:

"**I'll be going first. I need to go home afterwards. See you later, or maybe. . .NEVER! Bleh!**"

"She must be crazy!! Of all the girls in this world, why would they choose a crazy, lou-mouthed girl like her!!" he said angrily. He took his car keys and pocketed his cell phone. He ran fast, out of the suite, not even finished fixing himself. He ran to the car pack and went inside his Lamborghini top-down car. He started the engines and drove off. While driving, he was looking sideways, searching for her. Finally, he saw her, eating at a small store that he doesn't even know what it's called. _"Street food?" _he thought.

He honked the car 3 times and Mikan looked at whoever did that.

"Natsume?" she asked, ignored him and continued eating. He clenched his fists and went out of the car. He crossed the street and grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing at this kind of. . .place?! Are you trying to ruin 'our' reputation?!" he asked angrily, glaring at her.

"Hey leave me alone!! It hurts, you know," shouting back at him and trying to let go off of his tightened grip.

"And what do you care about it?! What reputation are you talking about?! FYI, I'm not included in that stupid reputation of yours. It's only YOU, okay? Now leave me alone!!" she added. She successfully got his hand off of hers and she started walking away. But she was stopped, when he grabbed her hand again and pulled it. She winced in pain.

"And where do you think you're going?! You'll run away?! Better don't do it, or else, I'll make you suffer, my dear FIANCÉE!!" he said angrily and they didn't notice that their faces were only inches away. Mikan looked at his eyes.

"_He's so scary when his angry. But his eyes are so. . .Break the crap, Mikan, it's not the time to think about it." _she hurriedly changed the topic and said:

"I'm not your wife YET, Mr. Hyuuga! How can you be so sure of what you're saying?! And how sure are you that this wedding thing would come true?! I don't even have any feelings for you. If there is,. . .It's HATRED!! Got it?!" she shouted.

"Tch. Whatever you say, little girl. I have the same feeling for you too, so don't you worry. There are other girls who looks better than you with nice bodies. You're too disgusting and ugly too! Now, get inside the car! Or if you want, you could walk alone and get harmed later on! It's your choice." he said, releasing his grip on hers. They looked at each other, angrily and their eyes met. Suddenly, the store owner butted in.

"Hey!! It's so early for you two to be fighting. Would you stop you LQ? You're scaring my customers. If you want to continue, then leave this place!" he said.

"I'm so sorry sir." Mikan apologized and bowed, while Natsume just ignored him. She was about to walk away again, but he grabbed her wrists, and dragged her.

"Ouch!! It hurts!! Let go of me!! Natsume, you jerk!!" she screamed, trying to remove his grip on her. But he didn't let go, instead, his grip tightened, dragging her to the car. He forced her to get inside the front seat and slammed the door. He, too, got inside the car, slammed the door, started the engines and drove off.

"What a weird couple." the store owner said.

While driving, silence filled the air. None of them dared to break it, until, Mikan decided to speak.

"You would go to school wearing that? You're not even in you uniform." she said and looked at the car window.

Natsume was wearing a white loose polo with light blue stripes and a simple white shirt inside. The polo's upper, second and third buttons were unbuttoned. He was also wearing blue jeans and black converse.

"What do you care?" he said.

"How rude." she whispered.

"Wait a minute. Why were you soo angry at me back there?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

"Who wouldn't be? You said you'll go home. But what if my dad knew about that, he'll cut off my allowance and credit cards, and he'll confiscate my car." he answered.

"_No wonder. You're soo selfish and soo arrogant!!"_ she said in her thoughts.

"_What a nice excuse. She's right, why am I so angry? Maybe because. . .Nah, it's impossible." _he thought. He just focused on driving and he heard her sigh._ "Why?"_

**to be continued**

**xheenie_cailiyu:** how was it? too mushy? please review!!:D


	4. Mystery4

RECAP:

"You would go to school wearing that? You're not even in you uniform." she said and looked at the car window.

"What do you care?" he said.

"How rude." she whispered.

"Wait a minute. Why were you soo angry at me back there?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

"Who wouldn't be? You said you'll go home. But what if my dad knew about that, he'll cut off my allowance and credit cards, and he'll confiscate my car." he answered.

"_No wonder. You're soo selfish and soo arrogant!!"_ she said in her thoughts.

"_What a nice excuse. She's right, why am I so angry? Maybe because. . .Nah, it's impossible." _he thought. He just focused on driving and he heard her sigh._ "Why?"_

Chapter 4: "Mikan's Worst Day"

A few minutes later, they arrived at the school. Natsume parked his car at the parking area and they both got off of the car. Alice Academy was considered the most prestigious school in all of Japan. It was well-known in other countries. The academy has its own mall, park, stadium, hospital, gym, track & field, dorms and playgrounds. If you think only rich people could enter that school, the answer is no, but what other people thinks, is yes. Most of the students there are rich, but they do not know that they had an alice. The founder of the alice academy made sure that only alice-users should enter that school, but the students didn't know that they possessed powers or known as alices. The founder and the royals from the GREAT FOUR, were still trying to think of a solution to retrieve back their alices, by not letting their enemies know about it.

Back with Natsume and Mikan, they got off of the car and entered the academy. While they were walking along the big corridors, every girl who they passed by were staring, blushing or talking about, of course, Natsume. They were walking together but not so close to each other. Natsume, although he's a new student, he immediately had his fans club, but he didn't seem to care. He WAS used to it. Almost all of the sassy, flirty girls in high department joined his fans club. What do you expect from those kind of girls anyway?

"Hey! It's Natsume!"

"He's soo tall."

"Cute"

"HOT"

"Handsome"

"Ayhiee…" the girls squealed and blah blah blah. They drooled and their eyes were changed to hearts. Well, Natsume tried to ignore them, hands on his pockets.

"_What's wrong with them? Eww….Yuck!! What did they see in this stupid guy?"_ Mikan said in her thoughts and shook her head. They continued walking and the girls noticed that 'someone' was with walking him.

"Hey, who's that girl?"

"Why is she with Natsume-sama?"

"Are they together now?"

"Don't tell me she's Natsume-sama's fiancée?"

"Eww…Gross" the girls said as they saw Mikan.

"_Oh Kami-sama, please help me. I wish that the agreement won't spread or please, I wish that it won't happen. I'm in big trouble if ever that happens."_ Mikan prayed in her thoughts.

-At class 4-A-

Everyone was noisy, as usual. She greeted her classmates and the others replied back, while the others didn't. She attempted to hug Hotaru, but she quickly backed off when she saw Hotaru holding a gun.

"Uh. . .W-what is t-that, H-Hotaru?" she asked, pointing to the gun.

"Baka gun." Hotaru replied, emotionless.

"Baka gun?" Mikan asked curiously and she noticed that Anna and Nonoko were. . .weak.

"Don't tell me. . " she uttered.

"Yeah, they were acting like a baka so I did that."

"You're such a meanie. And where did you get that thing?"

"I invented it."

"And when did you start inventing things?"

"And when did you ever start to get smart by asking me?"

"Fine!"

"Try to hug and I'll shoot you with my gun."

"Hotaru…" she pouted.

"Hmph." she added and proceeded at her seat.

"Oi, Hyuuga!" Hotaru called out.

"What is it, my dear _cousin_?" Natsume said teasingly.

"_Cousin? What cousin? They're related?" _Mikan thought.

"Shut up. I told you to stop calling me that. Mind to tell me what happened _yesterday_?" Hotaru asked, teasing him back.

"Oh, it's so UNFORGETTABLE." he replied smirking at Mikan, who's jaw dropped and her eyes widen in shock.

"She just vomited at my new polo." he added.

"Serves you right." she said and looked away. Mikan stood up and approached Hotaru.

"You two. . .are related?" she asked.

"What do you think? You just heard what he said, we're cousins." Hotaru replied, smirking at her.

"So that mean, you'll be my FUTURE cousin-in-law." she added in a whisper. Mikan clenched her fists, her face were red, white smoke came out from her ears and nostrils. She was like an angry bull, that made her classmates back away, except for Natsume and Hotaru, who had an expressionless face.

"So, you knew about it all along and you didn't even mention a single thing?!" she exclaimed. Others in the class were a bit curious of what they were talking about.

"You weren't asking, and I only knew about it last week. Aunt(Yuka) said not to mention it to you, she knows your temper." Hotaru answered.

"WWAAAAHHHHH!!!" she screamed and cried out loud, but there were no tears falling from her eyes.

"You're soo UNFAIR!! I thought you were my best friend." she wailed and

**BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!**

She was hit by an infamous baka gun three times. She rubbed her sore head.

"That hurts you know." she shouted, going back to her seat.

"Ms. Sakura." the teacher called out, and not just a plain teacher. It was Jinno-sensei.

"You know that shouting in class is inappropriate." he said and she gulped.

"Proceed to the principal's office, NOW." he added.

"B-but. . .but. . ." she uttered.

"Tsk tsk tsk." her classmates were clicking their own tongues.

"Do you have any complaints, Ms. Sakura?" he asked and she shook her head.

"Out, to the principal's office, NOW." he ordered.

"H-hai." she said and went out of the class.

"_This day is the worst day of my entire life. Thanks for that stupid jerk. If he didn't came then none of these would have happen." _she said in her thoughts, frowning.

While walking down the hallway, she focused her attention at the cold floor. She didn't even notice that she passed by someone she used to adore. He stopped from walking and looked at her as she entered the principal's office.

"_I wonder what you did wrong again." _he thought and continued walking. He was definitely thinking of her.

"_I guess I'm too late to apologize. Sorry, for being a jerk." _he thought again and stopped for a while.

-At the principal's office-

Mikan was nervous. She didn't want to hear what will be her punishment for the day. She surrendered her I.D. and asked:

"Uhm. . .S-sir? W-What am I going t-to do?" she asked, stammering. She was always nervous every time HOTARU'S FATHER was in front of her.

"Simple. You just need to weed the garden and clean all of the toilet rooms in the high school department building." he said.

"Huh?! A-all of the CR?!" she asked, shocked.

"Definitely." he teased.

"E-even the b-boy's C-CR?!" she asked again.

"I said ALL, right? You wouldn't get your I.D. back unless you're through with the punishment. Is that clear?" he said.

"-sigh- Y-yes, sir." she said with a weak voice and went outside.

Natsume was walking down the hallway and he saw Ruka.

"Yo Nastume!" he said.

"Hey Ruka." he replied.

"I heard you're engaged. Wonder who that lucky girl is."

"Forget it. I don't want to talk about her."

"Why not? Ah! Something happened?"

"She's just definitely not my type. She's stubborn, stupid and an idiot."

"I remember, you like hot girls. Sexy and beautiful. Isn't she cute or something?"

"Who? The idiot? She's not cute nor beautiful. She's disgusting and I do not know, why my parents chose that girl."

"Hey! You're insulting her. She has feelings you know."

"Tch. Whatever."

"You'll regret insulting her, just like what I did."

"The girl 3 years ago?"

"Yeah, I wanted to apologize, but I guess her hatred for me won't change."

"What exactly is the reason why you did that to her?"

"You know _Luna_, right? Oh! She's your EX, how could I forget. She threatened me. She knew that I liked her(Mikan) and she said that if I didn't dump her, she'll hurt her and I don't want that to happen."

"She's such a nuisance."

"Yeah, she is. Let's stop talking about her. Why are you here? Cutting classes again?"

"I guess."

"Hey! Let's hang out tonight. The gang planned on going at the bar tonight. And introduce us your fiancée."

"Yeah, sure. But I think she won't agree. We actually hate each other."

"Just bring her out tonight. See ya."

"Yeah whatever."

They were both oblivious that the girl they were talking about was actually Mikan.

-Back with Mikan-

"How am I supposed to weed the garden and clean all of the toilet rooms? I'm gonna miss all of the lessons!" she said to herself and pouted. She went to the gardener's room and looked for a tool used for weeding.(I do not know what you call that stuff.) when she saw the tool, she grabbed it and went straight to the garden.

"WWHHHAAA?! This place is kinda big." she said and frowned.

"I can do this." she said to herself and started weeding the garden.

It took her for 25 minutes to finish it. She was so tired and exhausted. Her face was red and she was perspiring.

"Whew! That was quick." she said as she wiped her sweat, flowing her head down to her face and panted. She didn't even know that someone was watching her from afar.

"_How impressive." _he thought while he kept on watching her.

Knowing that she was all alone at the garden, she removed her long sleeved blouse. She was wearing a simple shirt that showed her perfect curves and made the other person shocked from what she did. She was indeed. . .sexy. She wiped her sweat with the face towel she brought. She was about to get inside when she noticed that someone was running fast at the corridor.

"_Who was that? Maybe a late student." _she said in her thoughts and went inside.

The person, or guy, went inside the boy's CR. He kept thinking about Mikan and he was exhausted.

"She's. . .-smile- beautiful." he said.

"_Wait! What am I saying? She's ugly, yes she is! But back there, she wasn't! Forget it." _

Then he heard the door open so he hurriedly went inside the first cubicle and locked it. He heard someone humming but it was a girl's voice.

"_A girl, inside the boy's toilet?" _

Mikan swept the floors, scrubbed the sinks and toilet bowls of the other cubicles. She then noticed that she was not alone and the first cubicle was, locked.

"_I was in here for about 30 minutes, and he's still in there?" _she asked in her thoughts.

"Uhm. . .excuse me? Are you not done yet?" she asked while knocking on the door.

"_It's polka." _he thought.

"W-Why?" he asked, changing his voice.

"I have to clean. And that was the punishment the principal gave me. And, . . I think you've been inside there for about more than 30 minutes." she answered.

"_Wait, is that his real voice?" _she asked herself.

"Natsume? Natsume is that you?" she asked.

"Yeah. So what?" he replied coldly.

"Please hurry up. I need to clean you know. Don't tell me. . ." she said and laughed out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" he said.

"Don't tell me you're pooping." she said.

"Shut up. Strawberries." he said.

"_Strawberries?" _

"Natsume!! You big pervert!!" she screamed while continuously knocking, more like, hitting the door hard.

"Tch. Whatever." he said. When she was tired on hitting the door, she stopped and leaned on the door.

After 5 minutes, Natsume opened the door and Mikan lose her balance. She almost fell on the floor, but, luckily, Natsume had caught her.

**to be continued.**

SNEAK PEAKS:

Their eyes widened in shock when they realized they were actually kissing each other.

"WAAAAHH!! YUCK!! I can't believe you were my first kiss!! Kiss stealer!! So DISGUSTING!!"

"Shut up. And what's the problem with that? We're engaged remember?"

"SO what if we're engaged?! It doesn't mean you could kiss me right away!"

"It was an accident so stop shouting."

**xheenie_cailiyu: **how was it, minna-san? please review! :D


	5. Mystery5

Chapter 5: "Unexpected happenings"

(OOC's ahead)

Natsume's right arm was at Mikan's waist when he had caught her, while his left hand was holding Mikan's left hand so tight. They both looked at each other's eyes and Mikan blushed.

**Mikan's POV**

I looked in his eyes and he did the same. His crimson eyes are so nice. I know that my cheeks are blushing and my hearts was thumping faster. I thought he was rude, arrogant, boastful and a bloody bastard. Indeed, he is, but he is kind. I haven't seen it at first but I know he is. "He's so. . . . .handsome." I thought. He was holding my hand, tight and I felt helpless. I don't know why, but, when he caught me, I. . . .love it. I love the way he looked at me and the way he held my hand so tight. Somehow, I feel like the time stopped. I was very nervous but happy at the same time. Why?

**End of POV**

**Natsume's POV**

"How clumsy! But she's. . . . .cute." I thought. I looked at her eyes and I felt a. . . .spark? Why? I smirked when I saw her blushed. I know that this stupid agreement between our grandfathers wouldn't make me happy. But, I changed my mind. I don't know why, but, I wanted to continue this stupid engagement. I want to know more about her. I want to hold her hands like this forever and I wont let her. . .go. I don't want anybody else to own her. I'm not sure if she'll agree. But there's one thing sure, I'll make her agree.

**End of POV**

(Fine! I know it's corny, but please don't blame me for that!)

They came back to their senses and Mikan tried to stand up straight. But unfortunately, she didn't notice that she stepped on a puddle, causing her to slip. Her right arm was on Natsume's neck and she accidentally pulled him(not literally). Natsume caught her again and his face went closer on hers when she pulled him. Their eyes widened in shock when they realized they were actually kissing each other. He pulled over and dropped Mikan. She stood up, blushing hard and clenched her fists.

"W-What was that all about?!" she asked, fuming in anger.

"What do you mean "What was that"? You pulled me." he said, smirking.

"Pulled you?! Why would I do that?!" she screamed.

"Ask yourself, stupid. Maybe you want a REPLAY?" he teased. Mikan ran out of the cubicle and went over to the sink. She opened the faucet and cupped some water(using both her hands), wiping her lips.

"WAAAAHH!! YUCK!! I can't believe you were my first kiss!! Kiss stealer!! So DISGUSTING!!" she cried, rubbing her lips.

"Shut up. And what's the problem with that? We're engaged, remember?" he said and rolled his eyes.

"SO what if we're engaged?! It doesn't mean you could kiss me right away!"

"It was an accident, okay? So stop shouting."

"No!! It's not okay, jerk!!"

"Tch. Suit yourself!" he said and walked out of the CR.

"Pervert. Hmph." she muttered and continued cleaning.

After 5 minutes of cleaning, she washed her hands and walked out of the CR. As she stepped out of the CR, she saw Natsume standing beside the door and he blocked her way.

"Let me pass, please." she said, not looking at him. She heard murmurs outside and:

"SAKURA!! I'll kill you!! Why did you kiss my Natsume?!" Sumire yelled. Obviously, she is the current president of the Natsume-Ruka fan club.

"SAKURA!! Don't ever come near him!!"

"How dare you kiss him?!"

"Natsume-sama, please don't marry her!!"

"Marry me Natsume-sama!!"

"No me!!"

"I'll be a good loving wife for you!!" the other members of the fan club yelled and blah blah blah.

Mikan sweat dropped and gulped.

"They wanted to kill you, so I brought them here." he smirked. Mikan gasped and fumed in anger.

"I HATE YOU!!" she screamed at him, and he covered his ears. She was about to walk away and she stopped when she heard him say: "Where are you going, blueberries?"

She ignored his teasing and looked back at him.

"At the girl's CR. Wanna come?" she teased and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm not through with you yet." he said and ran away.

"Through with what?!" she shouted but he ignored her. She went inside the CR, ignoring the death glares she was receiving from his fan girls. She continued cleaning, but she was 'out-of-this-world' mode. Her reason: Hyuuga Natsume. The 'scene' that happened kept on playing on her head.

"AAAAHHHHH!! Get out of my head you stupid pervert, good for nothing!! GO TO HELL!!" she shouted while hitting her head. She breathed in and out and continued cleaning. It took her for about 2 hours to finish cleaning. And after another 3 hours, she finished cleaning all the CR's in the high school building department. She went to the gym and went inside the bathroom. She took a quick shower and dressed up.

Later on, she went back at the principal's office to report that she had finished her punishment and she got her I.D. back. She then went out of the office, heading back to her classroom.

"_What do you mean "What was that"? You pulled me." _

"_Ask yourself, stupid. Maybe you want a REPLAY?" _the scene kept on playing again. She shook her head, trying to forget everything, but no luck.

"_You'll pay for this, Hyuuga. I swear to death that you'll pay for this." _she thought.

The bell rang, indicating that it was dismissal time. Students from every grade ran out of the class. It's either they wanted to go home right away, go to the mall, or whatsoever they wanted to do. Mikan fixed her things and her place as well. She was about to get out of the class when someone grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room.

"What are you doing?! Let go off me!" she complained, trying to break free from his hold.

"Tch. Just shut your big mouth." Natsume said coldly.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked again.

"…."

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"…."

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"….."

"Hyuuga!! Speak up!!"

"At my place, now shut up."

"But, could I. . .go home?" she asked softly, which made him stop from his tracks and so did she.

"Don't you understand that you have to stay at my place from now on?" he asked, annoyed as he loosen his hold from her.

"I know, but. . .I. . .have to get something there." she pouted.

"Tch. Whatever." he rolled his eyes.

"But. . .could I?" she asked again and received no reply.

"_It's useless talking to him." _she thought and sighed.

"Tell me where's your house." he said and walked a few steps away from her. She stood there, frozen and dumbfounded.

"_Did he just agree? Sometimes,. . .this guy makes me so confused."_ she said in her thoughts as she was looking at his back. He looked back at her and glared.

"Oi! Are you just going to stare at nothing the whole time or are you going home?" he asked her. She smiled and walked towards him.

"Does this mean, you will drop me home?" she asked with hope shown in her eyes.

"Use your common sense, stupid." he said and continued walking.

"I'll take that as a yes." she said with glee and jumped up and down while clapping her hands.

"_How could a 16-year-old girl like her act so childish?" _he thought and ignored his fiancée. They reached the car park and he pressed a button on his car key, making the lights flash. Then, he caught an eye on is fan girls. They were fuming in anger when they saw Mikan.

"SAKURA!! Stay away from Natsume-sama!!" they yelled. Mikan gulped when she saw them, giving her death glares. She grinned and chuckled nervously and looked back at Natsume.

"I. . .I guess I h-have to walk home, d-don't you think?" she asked him, looking pale, knowing that any minute, she might get killed by those stupid girls. He smirked and neared at her, which made her blush. He snaked an arm on her neck, making the other girls gasp and shock. He nuzzled her cheek and whispered at her right ear: "Don't make them bother you, you know that I wont date them." seductively. Mikan blushed, like a tomato and he smirked. They thought that Natsume kissed her and they cried out loud.

"Uhm. . .Why not comfort them?" she whispered back.

"SAKURA!! HOW DARE YOU KISS HIM!!" they screamed, thinking that she kissed him back.

"Wait, don't tell me you actually believed what I said? I don't mean it you know." he said again and winked at her. When he said those words to her, she was shocked and. . . . . . hurt? She breathed in and out and removed his arms on around her neck. She smiled at him and snubbed.

"I guess I'll be walking then." she said and walked away, no, she ran away. Natsume went inside his car, turning on the engines, while ignoring half of his fan girls surrounding him, or blocking his way. Well, the other half of his fan girls went chasing Mikan(confused? Just go with the flow, ne?J).

"_Sheesh! Dammit!" _he cursed under his breath. He gave one of his most dangerous glares to them and they backed off. He started driving away, looking for Mikan.

----

Mikan was running for her dear life. The fan girls were chasing her, in their hands were thick wood and long metal tube. She kept on running and suddenly, a hot red Lamborghini convertible car blocked her way.

"Get in." he commanded and she did what she was told. The car zoomed off, leaving the others fuming in anger.

---

Silence ensued between them. Mikan was fidgeting at her place for no apparent reason, while Natsume focused on his driving. She decided to break the silence since she cant take it and she was not used to the 'quiet world', unlike her fiancé though.

"Uhm. . .Could we have some musics?"

"….."

"Hyuuga, why are you so quiet?"

"….."

"Are you taking me home or at my place first?" she asked him, since she didn't know the way he was taking.

"….."

"Hey! Could you just stop being quiet?"

"And could you just stop being loud?"

"_This is harder than I thought." _she said in her head and sighed as looked outside the car window.

"Tell me where could I find your house." he said sternly, no emotions seen or evident in his voice and she said where her she lives.(not familiar with the streets of Japan :D)

A few minutes later, they reached the front house of where Mikan lives. She hopped out of the car, and so did he.

"Hey, wanna come inside?" she asked with glee and he shook his head.

"I'm giving you 10 minutes, and after that we'll leave." he said directly and went inside the car again.

----

-Sakura Residence-

Mikan entered the house and Mrs. Sakura was shocked to see her daughter.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Natsume's place right now? Why are you here?" Mrs. Sakura asked.

"Mom, am I not a part of this family anymore? is it bad for me to stop over?" Mikan asked back.

"It's not like that Mikan, you know how the agreement went yesterday. You didn't say anything so we thought that you agreed."

"So,. . .does that mean that I'll be staying in his place from now on? We're not even married yet!"

"I know. But, whether you don't like it or you like it, you **have **to do it."

"Well, I don't like it! Why me?!"

"This is your **fate**, Mikan. I guess you have to accept it."

"-sigh-. . .Can't I even change and decide my own fate? I mean, it's not fair! I should decide what I want to do, not ojii-san." she said that any minute now, she'll burst out crying.

"Mikan,. . . Just, do this for him. For **our** sake and **everyone** else. You might not understand us now, but in the future, you will."

"W-What do y-you, mom? For our sake and everyone else?" she asked confused, and her mother gave her warm smile.

"I'm not at the right position to tell you. But, please understand. We are also doing this for you." Mikan sighed, wiped her teary-eyes, and smiled.

"Mom,. . I'll just go upstairs to get some of my things. Natsume's outside, waiting for me." she said and went inside her bedroom.

"_I know this is hard for, Mikan. But you have to accept it, I know you will, someday." _

----

Mikan packed her other important stuffs. She went downstairs bringing a big backpack with her.

"_It looks like I'm going away forever." _she smiled at the thought.

"Bye ma. Tell dad that I'll visit you if I have time." she said, her mother just nodded, and she bid goodbye. She went of the house and she saw Natsume standing outside, leaning at his car. He said 10 minutes, but it took her 20 minutes. She grinned and chuckled nervously at him, who was glaring at her with his arms crossed and had a dark aura.

"You SLOWPOKE!! I told you 10 minutes but you doubled it." he said and rolled his eyes.

"Gomen, Natsume. I just,. . .talked with my mom." she said almost in a whisper, trying not to cry. Natsume noticed this and he asked her if she was okay.

"Yeah. . .-sniff. . .I guess I'll be missing my parents so much." she smiled. Her words made him caught off guard. _She'll be missing her parents? _somehow, seeing Mikan close to her parents made him a bit envious. How he wanted to have a mother or a father taking care of him when he's sick, watching him in school activities, being proud of having a son like him. But it never happened, since they were busy with work. He shrugged off the thought of him being close to his parents. He felt awkward and kind of disgusted thinking those. They were the reason why he became like that: a cold, conceited, jerk, egoistical, perverted, arrogant playboy he is now. But who could blame him? He had no parents to watch over him, only their maids were with him the whole time. She looked up to him, who was staring blankly at the cold ground.

"N-Natsume? Are you okay?" she asked softly, which made the young lad snapped back in reality.

"I thought you would be calling me Hyuuga. I didn't expect you would call me Natsume." he smirked.

"I hate that smirk." she whispered, which she thought Natsume wasn't able to hear, but he did.

"So you hate everything about me now, eh? Then, I wont help you with your bag. Carry it, until you reached my place and you have to walk." he smirked.

"You're such a gentleman, Hyuuga. It's no wonder I like to MARRY someone you." she said sarcastically.

"You want to marry me? In your dreams, dimwit. That wont happen, I assure you that." he teased.

"Same here, jerk. Hmph." she snubbed and walked away.

"You sure you don't want a lift?"

"No. I could walk anyway."

"Suit yourself." he said and zoomed his car.

*SPLASH*

Mikan was dripping wet, because of the water that splashed on her, when Natsume drive so fats.

"Damn you HHYYYUUUUGGGAAA!!" she screamed.

"Argh!!" she complained.

She continued walking, totally pissed off by what he did. The car went backwards and she saw him smirked.

"I guess that's the consequences of hating and rejecting someone like me." he said.

"Oh! My great HYUUGA NATSUME, I'm so **sorry** for **hating** and **rejecting **you. It's just that you are not a well-behaved guy!!" she said sarcastically.

"You sure you're not tired of arguing? Because of you are not, then you'll have to pay up for the polo shirt. Now, get in." he smirked.

"What if I don't want to?" she hissed back.

"Well, not my fault of taking the wrong choice. I just noticed that you do not know where my place is and you have to ride with me. So, you'll hop in or just lose your way?" he teased again. Mikan clenched her fists, breathed in and out, trying to control her temper.

"Fine then, Mr. Great Natsume!" she said and hopped in the car.

**to be continued**

**xheenie_cailiyu: **sorry for the late update!! So, how was it? Please review. At least 10 reveiews, so that I could update the next chapter. Not too demanding, am I?? well, I just need your opinions and if you liked my story or not. Flames? Please, no flames!! Please review. :D


	6. Mystery6

**xheenie_cailiyu: **I only received 6 out of 10 reviews. But anyway, I still updated. So, enjoy. if there are any wrong grammars or spellings, forgive me. Please don't just read, leave a review too after reading, ne?

Chapter 6: "My best friend, my new rival."

"_My alice! Give it back, Zyon!" she screamed, holding the cold bars in front of her. She can't fight back because she lost her alice and thus, she was locked up in the dungeon. _

"_It's your fault. I wouldn't have sealed your alice if you didn't try to interrupt. And don't you dare blame me for doing this. It's your fault after all." the king said to her._

"_(-scoff-)It was your fault too. If it weren't for that stupid girl you chose over me, I wouldn't have done this! I wouldn't go too far!" she screamed again and earned a hard slap. She touched her cheeks which were now red from the slap._

"_You were her friend. She treated you like her own sister. Why are you treating her like that?!" the king asked. Enraged from what he said and how the woman in front of him acted._

"_Friends?!" she chuckled like an insane person._

"_You've got to be kidding me. I __**WAS**__ her friend, but that WAS before. She stole everything from me, even you." she said, at the verge of crying._

"_She never took anything away from you. It was __**YOU **__who took everything away from her. And she never stole me from you, because I was never yours, Menllin." _

"_Damn you!! Get me out of here!! I'm a part of the Great Four, remember?! I rule __**Bennokia **__and I don't deserve to be here!!" she shouted._

"_Maybe you've forgotten, your husband __**Okaylo **__kicked you out. He was the rightful heir to the throne, not you." he said, annoyance evident in his face._

"_CRURSE YOU!!!"_

"_You're going to curse me again?"_

"_(-smiles maniacally-) Yeah! I will! You know that once I curse it would happen in the near future." she said._

"_Stop it Menllin, before I kill you!!"_

"_Then I shall curse you first before you kill me. Why not let history repeat itself? No, I said that a while ago when you took my alice….Ah! You know what, I've already seen the future. Looks like thing won't work well for you."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Simple. You can't retrieve your alice back, if your beloved __**granddaughter**__ writes a story. And let me tell you, she's writing it, everything that's happening now."_

"_You've gone insane."_

"_Sure I do." she said and laughed maniacally. _

"NO!!" Mikan screamed. She was panting and sweating. She touched her temples and realized that it was only a dream, but it seemed. . .real. She can't see the guy even the woman, because it was blurry. She can only here there voices and what shocked her most was the name Zyon and Menllin. Zyon was her grandfather's name, while the name Menllin was familiar to her. She just cant remember. It was 7 pm when she looked at her wristwatch. She took a deep breath and looked at her surroundings, she was still inside the car. She looked at her left side and noticed a raven-haired lad with a pair of crimson orbs, looking intently at her. He smirked.

"had a beautiful dream about me?" he teased.

"Ugh. You sound more like a nightmare to me." she answered.

Little by little, she noticed that he was leaning closer to her. She tried to avoid his gaze, but she failed to do so. She was indeed, captivated by those beautiful eyes he had. She can't stop blinking, she was fidgeting in her place and blushing really hard. She felt like her heart skipped a beat and she can't continue breathing.( too exaggerated?) then, she realized that their faces were only cms apart, more like one cm, and one wrong move, they might end up kissing each other again. She came back to her senses and moved back. Unfortunately, she hit her head hard at the car window.

"Ow!" she groaned, rubbing the back of her head. He chuckled.

"Good for you." he said, coldly.

"So you're having fun now? You're no good. You really are related to Hotaru." she said, annoyed by his actions.

"Obviously I am. You really think I'm going to kiss you? That wont happen again. I mean, look ay yourself, you were drooling when you were asleep. And please, wipe it off. Disgusting girl." he said as he removed his seat belt.

She touched her lips and both sides of her cheeks. She stoop down and wiped off the saliva. After doing so, she leaned back on the car seat and sighed.

"Why didn't you try wake me up then?" she asked, not bothering to look at him.

"I tried to, but you said 'oh give me 5 more minutes'." he replied, mimicking her girly voice. She sighed again. She didn't fight back because she knew that it was useless and she'll **NEVER** win in fighting him. Then, her attention diverted on the fancy-looking-elegant building.

"Where are we?" she asked, but when she turned to look at him, he was out of the car. She removed the seat belt and went out as well, putting her big bag on her back.

"Hey! You didn't answer my question. Where are we?" she asked again.

"_Why not play with her again?" _he said in his thoughts.

"Isn't it obvious? At my CONDOM." he said, emphasizing the last word. Of course he knew about what condom meant. He was just playing tricks on her. What he meant was condo, not condom. He wanted to know what would be her reaction and here it was:

"Teme(you). . .HHHHEEEENNNNTTTTAAAAIIIIIIIII(I guess you all know what hentai means *_winks_)!!!!!" she screeched. He really wanted to laugh his ass off, seeing his fiancée's reaction. But he kept his cold façade, ignoring the deafening shrill she was giving.

"Maybe you mean condo, not condom!!" she said again with such a loud voice. Since when did Mikan learned how to be smart? Even the writer of the story doesn't know. :P

"Getting too smart, are we?" he asked, more like stated and rolled his eyes, heading off first. He smirked, trying to act cool with both hands on his pockets.

"Oi! Chotto matte yo!!" she said, trying to follow after him. She can't run a little faster because of her big and heavy bag

"Hurry up, slowpoke." he just said, eyeing her coldly.

"Could you help me out here?" she asked.

"No." was the reply she received from him.

"Hmph. Fine then." she said to herself.

"_So much for being a cool guy. Why do I have to suffer this much?" _Mikan said in her thoughts. Well, he is cool, but he isn't that nice for some _reason_.

-Somewhere-

"How was your _sister_?" a feminine voice spoke out.

"She's fine, I guess." a masculine voice said.

"What do you mean by that?" the woman asked again.

"I think she's been having a bad dream lately. Anyway, here's the _notebook _mom gave me." he answered and placed the notebook on the table. The old lady looked at the notebook. She almost dropped the tea cup she was holding, but luckily, it was only a shock and she didn't dropped it.

"_It can't be." _she said in her thoughts.

"Anything wrong?" the teen-age guy asked as he noticed the 'weird' actions of the woman.

"No. Is that all?" she said to him.

"She's also having a hard about him." he added.

"Why so?"

"She can't accept that she's engaged."

"She's been accepting _all_ the burden." the woman whispered, enough for the young man to hear it. He just stayed quiet and didn't give a comment on what his _grandmother_ had said.

"Madam Leira, are you sure that the curse can be broken if they'll be together?" he asked.

"I do hope so. We have the same _story_ and the same _fate_. For now, just continue watching her. We do not know what might _happen_ next or when will _they_ attack us."

-Natsume's condo unit-

"Wow!" Mikan said with awe. She looked at the whole place. The place was. . .perfect! It was cosy and exquisite. No wonder his family was stinking rich and their name was just VERY famous in all of Japan. Not only in Japan, but also in other international countries.

"Oi, stop daydreaming will ya? Here's your room." he said as he pointed the a door. She smiled and ran to where he was. She was thinking that her room would be big with pink wallpapers that was fit for a princess. But when she saw the room, her smile turned upside down. It turned out that what she was expecting, isn't what she really expected.(Confused by the words?) The room was dark, boxes are scattered even old newspapers.

"This is my room?" she asked as she looked at the whole room. The room looked like a….storage room. Poor Mikan.

"You could clean it if you want to. Besides, you're not yet paid for the polo shirt." he said coldly.

"So?!" she asked, frowning.

"So?! So you have to be my maid. Not just any ordinary maid. You'll be my personal maid. You'll do everything what I want you to do and you have no choice but to follow."

"What?! Why?!"

"I told you, you have to pay for the shirt. I can't just let it go easily. Got any problem with that?" he asked, she shook her head and went upstairs(his condo has a second floor). She went inside in her so-called room. She frowned just by looking at the place.

"_Why is life so hard for me? Kami-sama, what have I done wrong to deserve this things?" _

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He laid down on his king-sized bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, trying to remember the girl with long auburn hair and chocolate brown eyes he used to know.

"She cant be. . .She cant be _Yuki._" he said to himself. He stood up, went inside the bathroom and decided to take a short shower. Warm drops of water poured down onto his head down to his body.

"Mikan. . .Yuki. . .No, impossible. . ." he whispered and shook his head.

Yuki, was Natsume's first friend, or maybe, first love. She was exactly like Mikan, who had an angelic face, sweet smile, auburn long hair and hazel orbs. She was also a loud-mouthed girl, clumsy, cry-baby, idiotic and a happy-go-lucky girl. They were really alike, from the looks, voice and attitudes. But it was impossible for Mikan and Yuki to be same because Yuki was……..DEAD! Recalling the first day he saw Mikan, he was really shocked but he remain his cold façade. He had forgotten about her but looking and thinking of Mikan makes him reminisce the past.

**FLASHBACK**

"_Natsu-kun!" a 5-year-old girl called out, running. She stopped under a Sakura tree and sat on the green grassy floor beside her friend._

"_What do you want little girl?" the raven-haired boy asked coldly._

"_Mou, Natsu-kun. You're so mean. No wonder you are related with Hotaru-chan." she said and pouted._

"_Hn." was his only reply._

"_Natsu-kun let's play, ne?" she pleaded with puppy-dog-eyes, holding his right arm._

"_No." he said back._

"_Hmph! Fine! But you have to meet Yuna-chan." she grinned._

"_Yuna-chan?"_

"_Hm. She's my new friend, but she always get bullied." she said sadly._

"_Why?"_

"_I don't know. Their calling her name like ugly or fat and I hate it. So I stopped the bullies from hurting her and we became friends. Isn't that cool?" _

'_You shouldn't be meddling in others business, polka."_

"_It's Yuki, not polka. But they're being mean to her. And my mom said that it's bad to fight, don't you agree?"_

"_Whatever."_

"_Natsu-kun, you should meet her, ne?"_

"_Hn."_

"_I'll take that as a yes." she said cheerfully and planted a peck on his cheeks._

"_That's a token of my gratitude." she added as she stood up and walked away, leaving the boy blushing and dumbfounded._

**END OF FLASHBACK**

It took him 30 minutes to finish his so-called short shower and dress up(w0w! it's short huh? :P) he was clad with black polo shirt(3 upper buttons left unbuttoned), blue jeans and converse rubber shoes(not high-cut). He looks ssoo COOL, no. . . .ssooo H-O-T!! HOT!! Which makes every girl drool over him. He went downstairs, ready to go again, but he checked on Mikan first. He saw her fixing or cleaning the storage room. He smiled. For the first time in the long run, he smiled again. The last time that he smiled was when he was with Yuki, but his warm smile vanished when she passed away. He walked over to the open door, watching her clean.

"Psst." he hissed. By the way he called her, he sounded like calling a dog. She looked at him.

"I'm not a dog, okay? I have a name and it's Mikan. Want me to spell it out for you?" she said to him.

"So you know how to spell. Whatever."

"What is it that you want, Mr.?"

"You fell on my trap again."

"Trap?"

"Trap. I didn't mean to let you stay in this filthy room. Your room is upstairs."

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?!" she exclaimed.

"I wanted to see your reaction and what will you do. I didn't expect you to, . . . clean it up. But you're still a maid here, that wouldn't change." he smirked.

"Stop smirking you idiot!" she shouted, fuming in anger again.

"No can do," he said as he looked at her from head to toe and vice versa, he added: "Cherries."

"Cherries?" Mikan asked herself and looked down. That's when she realized the side of her skirt was. . . .ripped. She hurriedly took a newspaper and covered the ripped part.

"You're such a pervert!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"You should show respect to you boss, klutz. If not, then I guess you have to suffer." he said.

"Oh no no no no no. Can't you see I'm suffering right now? You don't have to do it." she said, controlling her anger.

"I can see that, but it's not enough."

"You're no human!! So you want me to die in here? You want to torture me and make me suffer?!"

"Precisely. You'll only be working for 3 weeks though. Quite too short in my opinion."

"3 weeks, and you're saying it's short? Are you kidding me?"

"No. I was thinking that you should work for a year or two. You should thank me for having a good heart." he smirked and walked a few steps away from her.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked.

"Why? Are you trying to stop me? You're not my wife, you're just my fiancée. What do you care?" he retorted. Mikan blinked and was speechless.

"What?"

"Uh. . .It's just that. . .I might be going out later too." she said.

"Then go." he said nearing to the door.

"But. . ."

"What now?" he asked, annoyed.

"I-I don't h-have a k-key. I-I mean, I just. . .c-cant leave this place u-unlocked." she said, stuttering. She had no idea why she was stuttering right now.

"Here." he said as he threw her a spare key and she caught it.

"Thanks, _Natsu-kun_." she said and gave him a warm smile.

"_Natsu-kun?" _he thought. He was taken a back by what she called him. Was he mistaken? Was his mind playing tricks on him again?

"What did you just say?" he asked.

"I said thanks, Hyuuga." she said slowly. He didn't say a word, just walked out and closed the door. He leaned at the door, thinking of what she said.

"**Thanks, **_**Natsu-kun**_**." **

"_Maybe. . .It's just my imagination." _he said in his thoughts and walked way.

She stopped cleaning the room and closed the door. She went upstairs and saw two doors. The door on the right had a no entry sign, or, 'ENTER AND YOUR DEAD' sign, while the door on the left was plain.

"That might be the room he's talking about." she said and went near it. She opened the door and she was surprised at what she saw.

"This is no ordinary bedroom." she said with an awe. The room was surely big. She looked around and find it fascinating. There was a mini-living room with couches and flat-TV screen. The bed was soo big, with light blue fluffy quilt and big soft pillows. There was also a balcony, located almost near the bed, covered with white curtains. The bathroom tiles were made of marble, there was an expensive-looking Jacuzzi, shower, bath tub and everything you can fin inside the bathroom looks so new and not to mention, expensive.

"Wow. So much for being his personal maid." she said as she slumped herself on the queen-sized bed. She sighed.

"Never thought that there was still a small heaven left on hell." she laughed at the thought and closed her eyes, trying to have a peaceful siesta. But it was disturbed when her cell phone rang. She frowned.

"Oh! I hate it when someone disturbs my slumber." she said to herself, before sitting up and answering the call.

"Oi baka. Go to the bar." a cold voice on the other line said. It was obviously her best friend, Hotaru Imai.

"Now? Why?" she asked, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"The gang decided to hang out." she answered, emotionless.

"Okay! Until what time?"

"12 am. No classes tomorrow."

"Sure! I'll just dress up. See you later then." she cheerfully said before hanging up. She took a short shower and after that, she fixed herself. She was clad with white tube top and pink bolero, a denim miniskirt, and dark blue with white polka-dots flats. She dried her hair and fixed it in a ponytail hairstyle, with curls at the end. There! She was ready to go. She took her cell phone and placed it in her pocket. She went downstairs and left the condo.

-At the Bar-

Natsume was sitting on a high chair, his lower right arm resting on the counter top.

"Whiskey." he plainly said at the bartender. Just then, 2 'lovely' girls, who looked like a slut or something, went near him.

"Hey there hottie." the first girl said and snaked an arm on him. He looked at her and just rolled his eyes.

"Wanna dance pretty boy?" the other girl said as she cupped his face. He removed the arm and the hand of the girls and smirked at them.

"Not interested right now." he said and the girls just walked out.

"Here's your order sir." the bartender said as he placed a glass in front of him. He didn't say much, but instead, he just took the glass and drink.

"Yo, Natsume!" a guy with glasses and blonde locks approached him.

"Hey Yuu." he said back.

"Hey Natsume. Long time no see, I guess." another guy said.

"Hn." was his reply.

"So, how's your second day in Japan?" another guy asked with dirty brown locks.

"What do you think, Koko?" he asked as he gave him a glare. Koko gulped and grined.

"It seems to me that you're not enjoying." he answered innocently.

"And you just ditched the most hottest girls in this bar a while ago." Kitsuneme added.

"Don't tell me. . ." Yuu uttered as he looked at Koko and Kitsuneme, and they looked back at him.

"_Is he in love again?" _Koko asked through hand signs.

"_Who know? Maybe he is, again." _Yuu answered back, also through hand signs.

"_I guess not. Maybe he's just thinking about the you know, the engagement." _Kitsuname added. .(I do not know how they did it and how they could understand each other.)

Natsume noticed what they were doing, he raised a brow.

"Oi. What are you 3 doing? You're acting like idiots. Anyway, where's Ruka?" he asked.

"He's at the dance floor." Yuu answered.

"I think he's flirting with that cute girl." Koko said.

"Yeah, he's always like that. Hey Natsume, why don't you dance? There are so many hot girls here tonight." Kitsuneme said.

"Kitsuneme, maybe you've forgot. He's engaged and I guess that's the reason why he isn't interested." Koko mocked.

"Mind you own business and leave me out of it." he said coldly.

"If you three want to dance, then just go. Just wish that your girlfriends wouldn't find out of what you're doing." he added.

"He's right. I wouldn't want to get killed by Nonoko." Yuu said.

"Nor get strangled by Anna." Kitsuneme said before drinking.

"I wont have any problems with Sumire. Besides, he's after Natsume and Ruka." Koko added.

"Tch. Whatever." Natsume rolled his eyes. He stood up and went on the dance floor, while the other 3 gave each other 'high-five' before following him.

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"HHHHOOOOTTTTAAAARRRRUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!" Mikan screeched. She was attempting to hug her best friend again, but failed when she received 3 shots from Hotaru's baka gun.

"Ow! I can't believe you still brought that thing here." Mikan complained, rubbing her now sore head. Anna and Nonoko just sweat dropped.

"Being prepared is not that bad. And besides, I know that you would do that." Hotaru said with her stoic face.

"Hmph. Oh! Hi permy." Mikan said.

"Sakura, I have a name okay? And please, stay way from my Natsume." Sumire said back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hi Anna-chan, Nonoko-chan." Mikan said cheerfully.

"Hi Mikan-chan!" the twins said in unison.

"Enough with the greetings. Let's get inside." the ice-queen stated.

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Natsume with his buddies kept on dancing. They didn't care if they'll get caught by their girlfriends or what. They just kept on flirting with the girls they're dancing with.(If I had a bf like them, I'll strangle him to death. XC )

"Natsume, don't you remember me?" the girl asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"No. I wont even bother trying to remember you." he said coldly.

"Still as cold as ever. When will you ever change?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm your ex. Luna. Koizumi Luna."

"So?"

"So you don't remember, or you just don't want to remember."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, totally confused of what she was talking about. she leaned forward and whispered something on his left ear. He removed her arms and pushed her slightly away.

"Old hag." he said before leaving the dance floor.

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"So,. . .where are we going to sit?" Mikan asked, and a tall guy suddenly approached them. Hotaru gave him a small paper, that looked like a ticket or a coupon.

"This way ma'am." the gut said as he showed them the way and their table. They all followed the guy and sat on the couch.

"Why are we here anyways?" Mikan asked again.

"One more question and I'll shoot you again." an annoyed Hotaru said as she pointed the baka gun at her. Sure you wouldn't want to mess up with someone like her. Mikan gulped, grinned and chuckled nervously.

"F-Fine. . .I-I'll shut m-my big m-mouth." she stuttered and Hotaru placed her gun at her pocket.

"It's Sumire-chan's birthday, Mikan-chan. You didn't rememebr?" Anna asked.

"Oh, is it? I forgot!"

"It's because your busy daydreaming." Hotaru rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, permy. Happy Birthday." she squealed and gave her a hug.

"L-let me go. . .I. . .c-can't breathe." Sumire said, and Mikan did what she was told.

"Sorry." she said again and made a peace sign.

"Idiot." whispered the ice-queen.

"Why don't we play, ne?" Nonoko suggested.

"Truth or dare." Anna said.

"I guess we all know how to play this game. But let's give the game a little twist. Here are the rules. Lying is not allowed when you choose Truth. If you tried lie, you'll do the consequence and that is drinking 2 glasses of liquor, bottoms up. If you chose Dare and you failed to do it, there's also a consequence. Drinking a glass of liquor, going to the dance floor and you should dance with someone." Sumire stated.

"That sounds fun, and Mikan, no backing off. don't be a kill joy." Hotaru said.

"How did you know that?" Mikan asked.

"Baka, I know everything."

"But first, let's order." Sumire said.

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"Where's you fiancée, Natsume? I thought that you will introduce her to us?" Ruka asked.

"She's at my condo." Natsume said.

"Who-hoah." the 3 guys said.

"Kitsuneme, is it true that engaged people could live together at the same roof?" Koko asked.

"I have no idea. Yuu, is it true?" Kitsuneme asked.

"That's what I heard from engaged people." Yuu answered and each of them recived a death glare from Natsume.

"Tch. Whatever." he said and his cell phone rang, he answered it.

"Where's Mikan?" the voice on the other line sounded angry. It was Mrs. Hyuuga.

"At my condo."

"I told you to bring her here."

"Mom, could you give me three weeks?"

"And give me three reasons why?"

"1. I am you son. 's my fiancée, and 're getting married, and I want to know more about her." he sounded serious and sincere, but the truth is, he's only playing.

"What a lame reason."

"I wouldn't bother calling you mom then."

"Was that a threat?!"

"No."

"Take care of her, okay? I'll be sending her things there. But only 3 weeks, after that, bring her here."

"Whatever." and the line went dead.

"Yuu, give me 3 weeks." Koko mimicked the voice of Natsume.

"3 weeks? Why?" Yuu said, mimicking a girl's voice.

"I want to know more about her." Kitsuneme added.

"Oi you three. Would you shut up?!" Natsume said and gave them a glare. The three lads laughed their ass out while Ruka just ignored them.

Just then, he saw a girl who looked like Mikan.

"She's here." he whispered, enough for his best friend to hear.

"Who?" Natsume asked.

"The girls 3 years ago." Ruka replied.

"Really?" was all that he could say. Ruka turned to look at the bartender when the girl passed by.

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"Guys, I'll just follow Mikan." Hotaru said.

"Sure." the girls said and Hotaru stood up and made her way.

"Oi, Imai." Natsume called out when he saw her passing by.

"What are you doing here?" he added.

"I should be asking you the same question, Hyuuga." she replied icily.

"Who are you with?" he asked again.

"Why do you keep on nagging with those questions? I'm with my friends and your fiancée, happy?"

"She's here?!"

"Apparently."

"Where is she?"

"Why? Are you going to introduce her to them?" she asked as she looked at Natsume's 'buddies'.

"Not really."

"Hi!. . .Hotaru." Ruka greeted. She turned to look at him and sighed.

"So its Hotaru now ha?" she asked and walked out, making her way at the CR.

"She's still cold as ever." Koko said.

"That's the reason why she's called the ice-queen." Yuu informed him in as a matter-of-fact tone.

"Do you think she'll change?" Kitsuneme asked out of the blue.

"Not unless she forgives me." Ruka answered sadly.

"It's your fault dude. Why did you have to do that to her?" Natsume said.

"Sorry Natsume." Ruka apologized.

"Don't apologize to me. You should apologize to her." he said.

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"Baka, you alright?" Hotaru asked as she saw Mikan vomiting at the toilet bowl.

"Just having a hard time in here. . .Whoo…"she said and vomited.

"It's your fault." Hotaru said while rubbing Mikan's back.

"If it weren't for the rules, I wouldn't end up like this."

"If it weren't for you who kept on choosing truth and in the end you'll just lie, you really have to do the consequence. Don't blame the rules. Rules are rules you know."

"I know that."

"Done vomiting?"

"Not yet." she said and received a hard tap on her back, causing her to cough hard and vomit everything.

"Done?"

"Yeah." she stood up by the help of the ice-queen. Mikan went over the sink, opened the faucet, washed her hands and her mouth.

"Hyuuga and Nogi are outside, waiting for you."

"Who?"

"Your fiancé and his best friend."

"They are?! Oh! Hotaru!! What will I do?! Help me!!" she screeched as ran around in circles.

"What? Are you just going to hide in here forever?"

"No!! It's not that!!"

"Then what?!"

"I cant let the whole academy know that we are engaged!"

"then what does it have to do with Ruka?!" Hotaru asked which made our favorite brunette speechless.

"C'mon. I don't want to stay in here any longer. If you want, I could leave you."

"No. I'll come with you."

They both went out of the CR, but Mikan was still intoxicated. While walking she almost fell because she cant sober up. Then, it happened again, but this time her fiancé had caught her. Well, she fell on to him accidentally.

"Hyuuga, It's you." she said and giggled.

"Oi, Imai!"

"What?"

"You're not taking her with you?!"

"No. She's your fiancée, you should take care of her, not me."

"Some best friend you are."

"So much for being her fiancé." she said. Well, she was looking at the 'couple', but she felt a presence of someone staring at her. She took her baka gun and shot the culprit three times. She looked at Ruka, who's now in pain.

"That's what you get for staring, Nogi." she said and walked away.

"You're drunk again?" he asked and his friends looked at the two.

"Yeah, obviously. But don't worry. I'm done vomiting and I wont vomit on you." she giggled.

"So. . .Mikan is your lucky girl huh." Koko said. Ruka heard the name 'Mikan" so he looked at them. She looked at the girl and he was surprised to see the girl he loves, or maybe loved.

"M-Mikan is y-your f-fiancée??" he stuttered and Natsume nodded. His eyes widen in shock, jaws dropped. Natsume was confused of his best friend's actions, but then, an idea came up.

"_Is this the girl Ruka's talking about?" _he asked himself.

"Tell me Ruka, she's the girl 3 years ago, right?" he asked.

"H-How. . .H-How did. . ." he uttered.

"I can see it from your face."

"W-well. . .I. . .I-I. . ."

"Oh-oh." the 3 lads said and backed off. The aura surrounding them became different.

"I'll bring her home. Tell the 'chicks' that I left." he said.

"Chicks? Who's chicks? Natsume, do you have a girlfriend?! Tell me!!" Mikan asked, eyes half open.

"Why? Are you jealous?" he teased.

"(-gasp-) Me?! Jealous?! Of course not!! Why would I get jealous?! It's because if you have a girlfriend, then I should get going. She might be jealous seeing me with you and kill me. Ja." she said and walked a few steps away from them. But she fell again on the cold floor and went unconscious. Natsume sighed and went near her, and carried her bridal style. He went out of the bar, with Mikan on his arms. He opened the door of his car and laid her at the back seat. After that, he went on the driver's seat, fastened his seat belt and before he started the engines, he heard Mikan murmuring.

"Don't. . .leave me. . .Natsu. . .kun. . ." Mikan said, still unconscious.

" _Yuki?!" _he looked back at her and he saw her, lying and sleeping peacefully.

"It can't be. You cant be Yuki." he whispered. He started the engines and drove away.

**to be continued**

**xheenie_cailiyu: **another chapter ended. kyaa!! i think this is the longest chapter i've ever written. what do you think, minna-san?? Looks like you have a long way to read and a long way for me to write this fic. Yup! A LONG way. I wont be updating the next chapter, unless you give me **10** or **15 **reviews. Soo please review, if you want to know what will happen next. So its up to you. Review, review, review!!


	7. Mystery7

**xheenie_cailiyu: **here's another chapter. Sorry to keep you waiting minna-san. And thank you so much for the reviews, to those who reviewed, and will review. I really appreciated it. So enjoy reading. And gomen if there are wrong grammars and spellings. I'm not that perfect, you know. But before you read, there are some questions that I wasn't able to answer.

**Q. **ofmid: 

is Natsume serious on Mikan?

**A.**

Yup, he is. But his just denying it and he thought he was just playing on her.

**Q. **of black neko hime:

If Mikan and Natsume get together would that break the curse of everyone's alice being sealed and them disappearing? Who is the SHE that made everyone have to seal their alice?

**A.**

I guess your question was answered at chapter 1 and 6.

**Q. **of HarunaNiwa073 and The Solitude of Sayuri:

Is she really Yuki?

**A.**

I still cant answer that question and it will be a surprise. So just stay tuned to the next chapters I'm currently working on.

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This chapter contains OOC's and it is more about Hotaru and Ruka

Chapter 7: "Confusions"

-At the Bar-

Ruka was spacing out, thinking. _"I'll should take her away from him, but if I did, what about the promise?" _he asked himself. He just cant believe that Mikan is Natsume's fiancée. Not only that, he was also confused with his feelings, for Mikan and Hotaru.

"So, I guess you knew everything." a feminine but cold voice said. He turned to look at that someone and he saw Hotaru.

"I-Imai. . ." he uttered.

"Tell me, are you going to take her away from him?" she asked, looking seriously at Ruka.

"I. . ." he uttered again and looked down at the cold floor.

"It was all your doing." she said back.

"I know. . .and. . .I'm sorry." he said with a hint of sincerity in his voice and looked at her eyes.

"It's too late. You cant change what you've done, _Ruka._"she glared at him.

"Can't. . .C-can't you just forgive me?" he asked, sounding so desperate.

"(-scoff-) In your dreams. You really think that it's easy to forget what you've done?!" she said, raising her voice and clenching her fists.

"Hotaru, I didn't mean to do it. I didn't know what--"

"Oh! So you're explaining now ha and you're telling me you didn't mean it?! Shame on you!!" she exclaimed and walked away.

-Outside of the bar-

"Hey! What do you think?' Yuu asked.

"Huh? What do you mean 'what do you think'?" Kitsuneme asked.

"What do you think will happen to Natsume and Ruka?" Yuu explained.

"They'll be rivals." he blurted out.

"Hmm. . .I guess not, because Ruka is--" Koko answered but didn't dare to continue what he was saying.

"Oops." he whispered and the two gave him a confused look. He grinned, chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"_I slipped again. Ruka will kill me." _

"You know what Yuu, I guess Koko here slipped again." Kitsuneme said.

"Yeah, from his actions, it's too obvious that he's hiding something." Yuu added.

"Mind to tell us what it is?" they both said in unison, which made Koko nervous.

"Uh. . .Fine! Like I have a choice." Koko frowned. He took out his cell phone and dialled Ruka's number.

"Hello?" the voice on the other line said.

"Uh, s-sorry R-Ruka, the t-three of u-us n-need to g-go. We might get g-grounded." Koko stuttered.

"Ah, fine. I'll be leaving a little while later." and the line went dead.

"What was that for?" Kitsuneme asked.

"You wanted me tell you what I know," Koko replied.

"So that means Ruka mustn't know about this and be sure to keep quiet." he added.

"But Nonoko and the others are still there." Yuu reasoned out.

"So? We could call them and ask them out later. Besides, we planned this whole thing." he answered.

"Well? What is it about Ruka?" Yuu changed the topic.

"Well. . .uhm. . ." he uttered.

"C'mon, Koko. Just spit it out." Kitsuneme said, annoyed.

"Fine! Didn't you notice how he looked at Hotaru a while ago?" Koko asked.

"No." the two guys said in unison.

"The truth is, he's confused with his feelings right now. He likes Mikan and same goes for Hotaru. Now, he's in the state of 'comparing and ranking' them."

"Wow!"

"No comment."

"You better shut up or Ruka will kill me."

"Don't worry, at least it's not us."

"I agree, it's only you."

_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hotaru-chan, what took you so long?" Anna asked.

"And where's Mikan-chan?" Nonoko added.

"She left. My cousin brought her home." Hotaru said plainly.

"With my Natsume?! Oh!! I'm so gonna kill Mikan!!" Sumire exclaimed and received three shots from you-know-where-and-who.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" she complained.

"For being loud, and you know that you've got nothing to do with Hyuuga." Hotaru said in as a matter of fact tone.

"Still!! She has no right to go near him."

"And neither are you." she retorted, Sumire pouting, the twins sweat dropped and dumb founded. Suddenly, Hotaru's cell rang. She looked at the screen and it says that she received a message. She clicked the 'YES' button to read the message and it says:

"**I need to talk to you. Meet me outside.**

**-Ruka-" **

She looked back for a while and she saw Ruka, looking at her with those sad eyes, and she received another message saying:

"**Please."**

"_This guy sure has guts and knows how to get in my nerves." _she thought, kept her cell phone and looked away.

"Where's Anna?" she asked when she saw no Anna at their place.

"Guess she received a phone call from Kitsuneme." Nonoko said and took a sip from her glass. Hotaru noticed Sumire acting weird, so she asked Nonoko: "What's with her?"

"Who knows. She has been giggling since she received a text from Koko." nonoko answered.

"KYAA!! Koko is soo sweet!! He didn't forget to greet me!!" Sumire squealed.

"You're crazy." Hotaru said but Sumire just ignored her.

"Hey. You better stop chasing my cousin."

"Yeah. Give Natsume to Mikan-chan."

"I wont. Besides, it was only yesterday when I organized that 'Natsume-Ruka' fan club."

"You cheater!! You already have--" Nonoko wasn't able to finish what she was saying because her cell phone rang.

"Let me guess. It's Yuu calling." Sumire teased.

"Yes and no."

"Say what?"

"Yes, it is Yuu. And no, it is a text message."

Hotaru looked back again and she saw him, still standing and looking at her. Hotaru looked away again, shook her head and watched the two girls tease each other.

"Bakas." she whispered and took a sip from her glass. The two girls stopped teasing each other when they saw Ruka standing behind Hotaru, so they focused their own attention at their cps. Hotaru knew why they shut up and she felt that he was standing behind her.

"Uhm. . .Hotaru-chan, I guess Anna, Sumire and I h-have to g-go, ne?" Nonoko said, standing up and Hotaru raised a brow.

"Y-yeah, we n-need to leave." Sumire said and they made their way out, dragging Anna along with them.

"I really need to talk to you." a husky voice from behind her said.

"I've got nothing to say to you." she replied, not even looking back at him.

"But I do." he retorted back. She stood up, walked passed him, went to the exit. Of course, he followed her.

________________________________________________________________________

-Outside of the Bar-

"What is it?" she asked coldly.

"H-How is she(referring to Mikan)?" he asked.

"Why don't you ask her?" she said in an angry tone. She turned back at him and was about to walk away, but stopped when a hand grabbed her left elbow and made her face him.

"What?! What is it this time?!" she asked, annoyed. Suddenly, Ruka hugged her, which made her eyes widen in shock, but she didn't hug him back. She tried to let go of him, but he was too strong.

"You better let me go, Nogi, before I kill you." she said menacingly.

"I. . .I'm. . .s-" but before he could finish what he was saying, his hold on her loosen and he fell on the ground, unconscious.

"Hey! Hey!" she called out, while using her foot to wake him up.

"_better leave him there. He's got nothing to do with me." _she said to herself and walked a few steps away from him. She stopped on her tracks when an idea popped in her 'genius head'. she smiled wickedly and went back to where Ruka was. She took out her cell phone, activated the camera, and took pictures of him.

"You know, you're making me rich, but I love it." she said. She tried to walk away again, but stopped when she heard him say: "I'm sorry. I really am sorry." and went unconscious again. She was taken aback by what he said. Did he really mean it or was he just joking around? Somehow, she wanted to believe what he just said, but she can't. She just cant forget what happened and how far he went. She breathed in and out, and suddenly, her attention diverted on the bushes.

"I know you're all in there. You better get out." she said, which made the person, or maybe persons sweat hard and really nervous.

"How can she be so keen?" a random girl whispered.

"Who knows? She's so smart." a guy whispered back. That's it! The Imai Hotaru, known as the ice-queen of the academy was terribly annoyed. Of course, you wouldn't want to mess up with her. So the person who were hiding at the bushes, prayed hard, but luck is not on their side.

**BAKA!!BAKA!!BAKA!!**

**BAKA!!BAKA!!BAKA!!**

**BAKA!!BAKA!!BAKA!!**

**BAKA!!BAKA!!BAKA!!**

**BAKA!!BAKA!!BAKA!!**

**BAKA!!BAKA!!BAKA!!**

The 6 persons who were hiding had no choice but to stop hiding, each of them received fair three shots.

"Ow!"

"Ouch!"

"Hotaru-chan!"

"What was that for?" they all said in unison, rubbing the back of their heads.

"That's what you get for eavesdropping." she said coldly.

"I'm gonna kill you!!" Sumire screeched.

"Try me." Hotaru said back and pointed her gun at her.

"Eh?! I-I was j-just k-k-kidding you k-know." she stuttered.

"Oi. You three!" she said emotionless as she pointed at the three guys.

"Take this idiot with you." she added.

"Hotaru-san, I. . .I d-don't think w-we could." Koko said.

"Why not?"

"Uhm. . .Kitsuneme and I m-might…g-get grounded." (just to inform you guys, Kitsuneme and Koko here are brothers. Same goes for Anna and Nonoko.)

"So? I don't care!"

"Oh. Please Hotaru-san. Here, 15000 yen." Kitsuneme pleaded as he handed out the money.

"You sure are good to deal with." Hotaru said when she received the money.

"Yuu, why not take him with you?"

"Uh. . .Uhm. . ." he fidgeted. He turned to look at nonoko and he thought of an idea. He snaked an arm on her and said:

"Gomen, Hotaru. We already have plans."

Nonoko looked at him, confused on what he was doing but she just ride along. Hotaru knew this, so she didn't speak any further. She knew what was going on, they wanted her to take Ruka.

"I guess you'll need to take care of him, Hotaru-chan." anna suggested.

"Why would I want to do that? He isn't my responsibility. Leave him there." she said and tried to walk away.

"Hotaru!" Sumire called out, which made her stop from walking.

"What?!" she asked, not even looking back.

"He needs you and we cant be of help. Only you can." permy answered, which made her think for a while. She looked back at her before saying:

"You are the president of that stupid fan club. You better take care of him, don't put me on the line."

"I guess I'll be quitting."

"You said you wont give it up?"

"Maybe I just said that."

"So, you're all telling me to take care of that idiot?" They all grinned and nodded.

"Then, you should pay me. 100,000 yen, each of you." she smiled evilly, making the others drop their jaw and widen their eyes in extreme shock.

"Pay up, or ditch him?"

"Fine! Fine! Fine! We'll all pay up." they all said in unison and took out their own wallet, bringing out the money and giving them to her. She didn't hesitate to take the money and she even began counting it.

"Geez Hotaru. When will you ever stop being greedy?" Sumire asked."Not until I die." she said bluntly.

"Where's his car?" she added as she eyed on the three guys. They had no choice but tell her where his car is, and they did point on a shiny, black Ferrari car. She then took Ruka's car keys from his pockets.

"You three, carry him and put him inside the car." she ordered. They had no choice but to follow her, if they didn't want to feel the wrath of her baka gun again. Koko opened the door of the back seat and the other two placed Ruka there, safely and Hotaru went on the driver's eat.

"Uhm. . .You know how to drive?" Yuu asked.

"Are you underestimating me?"

"Uh. . .no."

"Uhm. . .Do you know where he lives?" Kitsuneme asked.

"Technically, I have no idea."

"Where are you planning to take him then?" Koko asked.

"Maybe you want to switch places with me. You take him home and get grounded, but I wont return the money. How's that sound?"

"Uh. . .t-terrible."

"Then stop bombarding me with silly questions. And besides, I know that all of you are up to something." she said and the car zoomed off.

"Wow. I didn't know she's good in driving." Anna complimented.

"Uh-huh. She always best in everything." Nonoko agreed.

"Does she ever own a driver's license?" Sumire questioned and the twins ignored her.

"What?"

________________________________________________________________________

Hotaru sighed, half of her attention was focused on driving, and half was at the sleeping Ruka.

"_This is only tonight. Just pretend that nothing happened." _she said to herself. How unusual of her. Usually, she wouldn't talk to herself neither be bothered to think of something, or maybe someone, like she was doing now. But then, she was out of her character because of him and she somehow, felt stupid for the first time.

"_He's not worth it. He isn't worth."_

-Imai residence-

Hotaru honked the car and the big gates opened automatically. The main mansion is 1 km away from the big gate. She stopped the car when she was in front of the mansion, an several maids went out.

"Take him at the guest room and change his clothes." she ordered and went inside, heading straight to her bedroom and the maids did what they were told. She took a quick shower, and after that, she changed her clothes in pj's. She slumped herself at the king-sized bed, looked at the bedside table and noticed that it was exactly 3 in the morning. She then stared at the white ceiling and sighed, when an image of a blonde guy with cerulean eyes appeared on her head.

"_What happened to him?……I shouldn't be worried for that stupid guy. I cant just forget about what he did, and to Mikan." _and she fell asleep.

**xheenie_cailiyu: **I know it's short!! But please review, ne??

**Here are some Sneak peaks: **

"you like me, don't you?"

"w-what a-are you s-saying? M-me?! Lliking y-you?! H-hahaha. . .o-of course not!………a-anyway…w-why are y-you here?"

"don't you remember what you said last night?"

"L-last night? You c-changed my c-clothes?"

"Who else?"

"Then…….y-you s-saw?"

"Everything."

"E-everything?"

"Everything."

"HHHHHEEEEENNNNNTTTTTAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"


	8. Mystery8

**Thanks for those who reviewed!! I'll try my best to update soon!! I cant promise you that, but I'll try. Please don't just add this story on your favorites or story alerts. I will really appreciate it if you leave a review, and it will inspire me more to update!! Enjoy this chapter and review!! Love lots!!**

(WARNING: OOC's ahead)

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Chapter 8: "Strange feelings"

-Natsume's condo unit-

It was a bright sunny day, and there were no students at the grounds of Alice academy. It was weekend, and practically, no classes. Natsume was waken up by the sunlight that illuminated the room. He tried to sleep again, but he cant. So, he sat up and think of what will he do. He went inside the bathroom, washed his face and brushed his teeth. Then, he decided to check on his fiancée. He didn't't know why, but he felt like doing it. When he opened the door of Mikan's bedroom, he saw her sleeping peacefully. He smirked. He climbed on the bed, gently and laid down beside her. He felt the girl beside her clung onto him. He stared intently at her and run his hand at her hair.

Then, she made a muffle sound and hugged him. By the act that she did, their faces were now only 2 cms away.

"Yuki. . ." he whispered, while caressing her cheek. He looked at the locket at her chest and it was soo damn familiar to him.

"_I think. . .I've seen that before. . .but. . .where?"_

Suddenly, the event that happened at the bar appeared on his head.

"_I cant let you go to him. I cant." _he continued looking at her, and he noticed that she was rubbing her eyes. Mikan opened her right eye, followed by the left. She blinked few times and saw a pair of tantalizing crimson orbs. She stared at those for a moment and she was somehow,….hypnotized.

"_Those beautiful eyes are full of. . .sadness? How could I-" _her sudden train of thoughts were cut off when she saw a smirk form on his lips. She could feel the blood rushing on her fair cheeks, she was uneasy, she cant get her eyes away from him, and she knows she was blushing mad.

"_This is weird. Wait a minute." _she looked at her surroundings, she was inside her bedroom. But the thing that was bothering her was, why is Natsume inside her room? Not only at her room, and what is he doing laying down beside her? She turned to look at him again and: "KYA-" her sudden yell was stopped, when a hand covered her big mouth.

"Don't even think about it." he said as he let go off her. He sat up and she did too.

"Think about what?" she asked, innocently.

"Screaming, idiot." he plainly said. She looked at him, totally forgetting why he was inside her room.

"_He. . .looks handsome. Wait! What am I thinking?!" _she blushed furiously. he looked at her at the corner of his eyes and smirked.

"You like me, don't you?" he teased and neared at her, making her more uneasy.

"W-what a-a-are y-you s-saying? M-me? L-liking y-you?! H-hahaha. . .o-of c-course not!!" she said with full confidence. She hate to admit but she had difficulty finding those words. Her chest was thumping faster, she was nervous so she decided to change the topic.

"A-Anyway. . .w-why are y-you here?" she asked, not looking at him.

"_What's happening to me? I never stuttered before. Well, I did, when Ruka insulted me. But why is it happening again?" _her train of thoughts were cut off when she noticed that Natsume was nearing at her side.

"Don't you remember what you said last night?" he whispered at her left ear seductively, sending shivers on her spine. She felt jittery. She was nervous. She was fidgeting. For what reason? She didn't know. She was clueless.

"R-remember what?" she asked and tried to remember what happened.

"_last night, I was with Hotaru and the others. We played, I got drunk. The next was, what? ----- OMG!! Did I hugged him?! Arghh!! That was ssoo embarrassing. But, what did I said to him?" _

"Then. . .w-what is I-it t-that I-I s-said?" she asked him, staring at her lap. She just cant look straight in his eyes, for no exact reason.

"Last night, you got drunk. I had no choice but to bring you home. I carried you on my back and placed you here. I was about to get out of your room but you stopped me from doing so."

"I-I d-did?" she exclaimed, bewildered.

"Yep. And then you said: "Please. . .don't leave. . ."(mimicking Mikan's voice) I looked back at you and you said again: "Please stay"."

"T-then?"

"Then, I said: "Idiot. You should change your clothes." but then, you said again: "**Could you do it for me?**" At his last statement, Mikan's eyes widen in shock, and she was extremely blushing.

"I asked you if you were sure, and then you answered: "Yes."." he added and smirked.

"You know, you should close your big mouth. You have a morning breath." he teased. Mikan looked at her clothes and he was right. . . . . . It was DIFFERENT!!

"S-so, y-you c-changed my c-clothes?!" she asked, totally feeling embarrassed at what she did. She then grabbed the white blanket and held it on her chest, covering her body. He was a bit surprised at what she did, but it wasn't seen on his face though.

"As if there's something interesting to be seen in there."

"Y-you c-changed my c-clothes?" she asked again, breathing in and out.

"Who else do you think did it?" he asked and smirked, seeing her nervous and fidgeting.

"Then. . .y-you s-saw?!" a dark aura engulfing her and Natsume knew this.

"Everything." he said plainly.

"E-everything?!"

"Everything."

"HHHHHHEEEEEEENNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!" she screeched and aimed to punch him straight at his face, but he dodged it.

"WWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH" she cried fake waterfalls, but he just ignored her.

"Stop crying, baka."

"How could I stop crying when you saw everything?! Waah!! I feel like I've lost it!! Now I cant be a wife!!" she cried.

"Tch. You know what, your body is worse. And maybe you've forgotten, you cant marry someone else because you're betrothed with me."

"Thanks for the compliment, you assh*le." she said between her cries.

"You shouldn't have brought me here instead." she added.

"What?"

"Last night. You shouldn't have troubled yourself to bring me here because I'm with Hotaru."

"You have a point. I should have kept myself busy having fun with my friends and with other girls, much prettier and hotter than you."

It took her 5 seconds to fully understand what he meant. She looked down at her lap, a pain suddenly stung on her chest.

"Then let me ask you, why did you trouble yourself on bringing me home?" she asked.

"Don't think I'm a gentleman because I am not. My credit cards, this condo and especially my car will be confiscated if my mom knew I left you there. And not to mention, my $1000 salary every month, who knows if she'll cut it off. Those things are much more important than you." he said and walked out of her room, slamming the door, leaving Mikan…….totally hurt for no apparent reason. She touched her chest and clutch the cloth, her heart was thumping faster.

"_What is this? Why am I affected and hurt by his words? Why does he only think of his own good?! Doesn't he care for me just a little bit?! Just a little bit. It hurts!! Wait, hurt?! Why am I hurt anyway?! What am I thinking and what is this feeling?!" _she breathed in and out, and went at the balcony.

________________________________________________________________________

Natsume was at his room, laughing his ass off. He cant forget the reaction Mikan had when he played with her again. Yup, he did tricked her again. Saying that she asked him to change her clothes, which wasn't really a fact. He stopped laughing when he recalled what happened last night. Well, here's the real story.

**FLASHBACK**

The moment Natsume reached his condo, he parked and stopped his car, and carried Mikan in a piggyback ride. (FAST FORWARD) he laid Mikan on the bed, gently.

"I will never get married!! Just marry your damn girlfriend and leave me alone!!" she said, while unconscious. He stared at her for a moment and noticed that a tear suddenly rolled down her cheeks. He quickly wiped it off and was about to leave the room, when he heard her murmuring again.

"Please. . .don't leave. . .just like what he did. . ."

He didn't say a word, and just continued looking at her. Then, he saw a locket around her neck, and somehow, it looked familiar to him.

"_Why didn't I recognize this a while ago?" _

He was about to touch the locket, when he heard the doorbell rang and he went out to check who it was. When he opened the door, he saw his mom with a man holding a suitcase, standing behind her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, which sounded like a statement.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" Mrs. Hyuuga asked, and motioned herself to get in, including the guy.

"What is that?" he asked as he pointed at the suitcase.

"That's for Mikan, my dear. Anyway, where is she?"

"Upstairs. Drunk. Change her clothes." he said and motioned himself to go upstairs.

"How dare you talk to me that way?! I'm your mother, Natsume!!"

"A mother? Tch. You may have given birth to me, but you never showed me that you are my mother." he said and went upstairs. Mrs. Hyuuga sighed.

"What am I going to do with you?" she whispered.

"Please put the suitcase inside the room, upstairs." he heard his mom say, with loud footsteps at the staircase.

"Just leave if your through." he said coldly and went inside his room, slamming the door. He took a shower and after that, he changed his clothes. He went out of his bedroom and saw no one in particular. It only mean one thing, that his mom left. He went downstairs, locked the doors and turned off the lights. After doing those, he peeked inside Mikan's room. She was sleeping peacefully and her clothes were changed. next thing he did, he turned the lights off at her room and closed the door silently.

**END OF FLAHSBACK**

"Mikan. . ." he whispered. He didn't know why, but he enjoyed teasing her. Maybe because he sees Yuki in her, but that reason wasn't enough. What he felt for Yuki, was far more different from what he feels for Mikan. For the first time in his life, he was clueless. The genius Hyuuga Natsume WAS clueless.

________________________________________________________________________

Mikan was enjoying the perfect view below the balcony, as the gentle and cool breeze touched, with her long hair dancing with it. Suddenly, an image of a raven-haired guy with ruby eyes popped in her head. She tried to erase his face on her head, but no use.

"_Get a grip, Mikan. He was right anyway. Those things are much important than I am. And besides, he said it. I'm just his fiancée, not his wife nor his official girlfriend. It cant be more than that, it's just plain business and he's just playing. _(-sigh-) _I should think about the promise I made." _she said to herself.

"_What's wrong with me?! Why did I even said those nonsense words to him?! Is he playing on me again?!" _she sighed.

After a while of thinking, she went inside the bathroom and did her daily routine. She looked at the mirror while brushing her teeth, and took a bath after brushing. After taking a bath, she went out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. She brushed her long auburn hair and wrapped it with a towel. Suddenly, the door swung open and revealed Natsume. She gasped and her eyes widen in shock. She ran to her bed, took a pillow and throw it at him. She hurriedly grabbed the blanket and covered it to herself.

"What the hell are you doing here?!! How dare you get in here while I'm dressing up?!! GET OUT!! GET OUT NOW!!" she screamed, her face red in embarrassment and anger. He looked at her and smiled evilly.

"Oops. Sorry. I didn't mean to do it **again**.Don't worry, I wont tell that you have the worse body." he said.

"_It's nice actually." _

"Stop playing Natsume!! I'm not a kid!! Now, get out!!"

"I will, so shut up!! By the way, in the future, you should get used on showing me those. Only **I **could see those,** cause your mine, and only mine.**"

"_What?! 'cause your mine and only mine', 'cause your mine and only mine', 'cause your mine and only mine'." _she shook her head, trying to erase what she heard. It kept ringing on her head. Before she could ask him why he said those words, he already was out of her room, with the door closed. She heave a heavy sigh and continued dressing up.

………………………………................................................................................................

She went downstairs after dressing up.

"I'm hungry." she heard Natsume say. He was sitting on the couch while watching TV.

"Then eat." she retorted back.

"Is that how you show respect for your master, polka?"

"How could I show respect to someone like you, who doesn't even respect others?"

"Just prepare my breakfast and do everything I say. And you're not allowed to--"

"Disobey your commands. Did I miss anything, master?"

"No. Just do what I told you."

"Fine." with that, she headed for the kitchen.

"_How could I show respect to someone like you, who doesn't even respect others?"_

It's no wonder, he cant answer what she said. She was right. How could you respect someone, who doesn't respect others? He didn't show respect for his parents, to his teachers, and especially, to her. How could he be respected in that manner? He didn't know the answer to her question.

"As if like I care." he muttered under his breath, and clicked the button on the remote.

Suddenly, what he saw and heard through the television caught him off guard.

*What's wrong with you? Don't you even know what the word 'respect' means?*

*'Respect'? The hell I care.*

*You know, you should learn how to respect others. In that way, people will give back the respect that you show them. If you don't respect them, then you have no right to be respected.*

"_Respect?……What is respect?" _

"Tch. Useless." he murmured and changed the channel.

"Breakfast is ready, **sir**." Mikan said. He stood up and went over at the dining are, and he saw that the table was set. He sat down at the chair and he motioned Mikan to sit too and eat with him.

"_Did something happened?" _Mikan thought.

………………………………................................................................................................

**to be continued**

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**I know it's quite short. ****But please review. ****And watch out for the 'A stupid date with my stupid idol'. **

**I'll be updating it within this month or the next. ****Just check my profile for the summary and other stories. **

**And hey, I'm quite upset. ****You'll try asking for 10 reviews and you'll only receive 5 or 6.**

**You'll ask for 5 and you'll receive 2 or 3. ****Waah!! ****What is that?**

**Anyway, thanks for the reviews though!! ****Arigato arigato arigato gusaimas….**

**please do leave a review, ne???**


	9. Mystery9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen. Just a huge fan.**

**Here's another chapter!! Thanks for those who reviewed!! I really appreciated it!! So enjoy reading!! But before we start, I wanted to thanks these several persons: **

**Sapphire encrusted locket ~ **_**thanks for enjoying my story!! And hey, that was a nice guess, but I will still keep it a secret if Yuki is Mikan, or Mikan is Yuki's sister. Either way, it's still a secret, and you'll know it at the future…**_

**Mini pink boe ~ **_**thanks for the review!! And hmm…you guessed it right. Hehe…and thank you for liking my story.**_

**HarunaNiwa073 ~ **_**thanks for reviewing!! Mikan might be Yuki?? Hmm…it's still a secret!! Hahaha…**_

**Nuyun****: ~ **_**thanks for the review and for the support!!**_

**2Lazy2MakeAnAccount****: ~ **_**nyay!! Haha…the review you gave me was meaningful!! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!! Your review made me realize something, and it knock some sense on my stupid brain…haha…arigato!!**_

**Mzchronicle, Kazukarin, Yanani and Enemrizza ~ **_**thanks for reviewing!!**_

**And for the others who also reviewed and read this story, thank you so much!! Enjoy this chappie and leave a review!! Love lots!!**

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(Just to inform you, this chapter contains HotaRuka moments and major OOC's!!)

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Chapter 9: "I cant get over him!!"

-Imai Mansion-

Hotaru Imai sat up on her bed. She turned to look at the bedside table and saw the alarm clock, it was exactly 1 pm. Something unusual for her to do. But what would you expect, she return home at exactly 3 am in the morning. She needed at least 8-10 hours sleep. She shook her head as she remembered what happened at the bar. She was still doubting him. _"I'm sorry. . .I really am sorry." _his words kept ringing on her head. Was he saying the truth or was he just acting?

"_It's not true. It isn't." _she said to herself. She stood up and went inside the bathroom. As for morning routines, she brushed her teeth, took a bath and dressed up. When she was finished dressing up, she went out of the bathroom, thinking of what she'll do next.

Just then, her attention diverted with a picture frame, placed above her dressing table. She walked close to it and placed the frame down(remember Riko? If you don't, better check the prologue again:p). She took a deep breath before walking out of her bedroom. While walking, her own feet suddenly dragged her at the front of the guest room.

She knew Ruka was inside, so she was having second thoughts with opening the door or not. Then, she made her decision. She touched the doorknob and slightly opened the door. She peeked and saw no Ruka inside. She closed the door slowly with heavy heart.

"_He left?"_

The next thing she knew, she ran to the kitchen, and there he was, standing over the stove, cooking their so-called 'breakfast' or 'lunch'. She sighed in relief. It was as if that her heart jumped with joy when she saw him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, which rather sounded like a statement. Ruka looked back and saw a girl standing beside the door frame, no exact emotions seen on her face. He slightly smiled when he saw her.

"Isn't it obvious to you? I'm cooking, what else?" he answered.

"Yes, I know. I could see that, but why are you doing these? You're considered a guest and only chefs handle the kitchen." she said. He looked at her, sternly. Was this the HOTARU IMAI in front of her or was she a decoy? This was the first time, he heard her talked like that. He was surely, bewildered.

"What are you looking at?" the girl asked. He snapped back from his own reverie and continued cooking.

"Nothing. I wanted to do this and I persuaded the chefs that I will cook for now. . . .I. . . .I just wanted to thank you, for last night." he answered.

"_What a nerve you got there?!" _

"If you insist, fine then. But after this, you could get your ass out of my house." she said and went inside the dining room, leaving Ruka alone.

"_She's still angry with me. (-sigh-) What else can I do to bring back everything? Riko, if you were only here, I guess she wont turn out like these." _

5 minutes passed and he finished with what he was cooking. He made his way to the dining room with the dish he made in his hands. There, he saw her, sitting peacefully while reading a book.

"What is that?" Hotaru asked as she saw him serving the food.

"Uh. . .Crabs. It's your favorite, right?" he answered as he placed a platter in front of her. Hotaru didn't comment or show any emotions. Instead, she remained calm. She took a table napkin, placed it on her lap before eating. As for Ruka, he sat down, not beside her, but in front of her. He did the same too before eating. There was an eerie silence, and it was noting new to them both.

"I'm done." Ruka said and stood up, he took the plate he used and placed in it the sink. She didn't even bother to look at him when he said those two words. She stood up, held the plate at her hands and placed it in the sink as well. She smirked at him.

"Could you please wash this for me?" she stated. He looked at her with a confused look.

"If you want to thank me for what happened, then wash that. You knew what my favorite food was, I guess you know that I can't handle household chores." she said before walking out.

"_How could I even forget?" _he asked himself, as he watched her retreating figure. Her actions surprised him when he saw her stop dead from her tracks. She looked back with that poker face.

"Don't let the water run, you're wasting it." she finally said and left. He sweatdropped.

"_That's it?!" _he thought and resumed to what he was doing.

………………………………................................................................................................

After washing the dishes, he went back to the guest room and took his things. He studied the room first before leaving it.

"I just cant leave without telling her." he whispered. Sure the mansion Hotaru was living in was big enough. But it wasn't new for him. The Hyuuga's and Imai's are known for being the most powerful and rich families in the world. You read that right, in the WHOLE WORLD.

His feet dragged him to her room. It was his first time visiting the place, but he felt like he was familiar with it. And he didn't even get lost in the confusing halls. He opened the door and saw no one. He was sure that it was her bedroom, because it matches her personality. He sighed and just went downstairs. He suddenly passed by at the swimming area, and there, he saw her. A girl, clad with a black swimsuit, diving at the pool. He was mesmerized at what he saw. She was really the best in everything.

"_She's. . . .beautiful." _he thought as he continued to watch her every move.

Then, the said girl went out of the pool, dripping wet. The blonde lad was caught off guard when he saw her, damn **sexy**. Hotaru wasn't dumb to realize that she wasn't alone. She knew this and she hate to admit that she felt embarrassed. She wrapped her soaking body with a bathrobe, which made Ruka looked away. Well, he was quite……blushing.

"What are you doing here?…….You're supposed to get out of my house." he heard her say, and he knew she was annoyed.

"I just wanted to thank you and bid goodbye." he answered without stuttering.

"That's all? Okay. Goodbye." she said and walked passed him. He knew this would happen and he just cant take it anymore. He grabbed her elbow and made her face him.

"What's your problem?! Why are so darn angry with me?! I apologized, didn't I?!" he exclaimed. Hotaru was shocked, it wasn't clearly seen on her face, but her eyes says it all, and he saw it. She didn't knew this would happen. She managed to let go off of his hold and she succeeded.

"You apologized, yes, but it wasn't enough." she answered, swallowing down something in her throat which might explode in a minute if she didn't.

"It wasn't?!" he sounded desperate.

"Yes, it wasn't. If you think that a simple sorry would bring it all back, you're wrong. You cant take back what's lost. And especially, you cant bring back the time you lost." she retorted and left a miserable Ruka. He felt his heart was torn into pieces. His eyes watered. How could he change her opinion about him? How could he redo those stupid thing he made to her? And how could he fulfil the promise he made….to his own twin brother?

"_Riko, forgive me. I don't think. . .I can do the promise." _he thought sadly before leaving the pool area. He went inside his car and drove away, tears falling down his cerulean eyes. What he didn't know, Hotaru was watching him leave her territory.

………………………………_....................................................................................................._

"_I'm sorry. . .I just. . .cant forget what happened." _she thought sadly. If men are known to be strong and full of pride, Hotaru was not an exception. All along, after that terrible incident happened, she kept on hiding her true self. She was not a cold person. She wasn't a careless person. She was not a blackmailer. She was not greedy when it comes to money. She wasn't. But now, she is all that. The truth is, she was afraid to show her true feelings. She didn't want to get hurt…..**again**. So, she hid her true self.

You'd be so shocked and surprised to see a bubbly Hotaru, like her idiotic best friend Mikan. That was the real Hotaru……**before**. Totally out of character? No, she was a major out of character. But now, she was the ice-queen that everyone was familiar with, and she had no plans on being her old self again.

"_This is me now. I cant and I wont change." _she said to herself as tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it off and looked at her hand that she used. She scoffed.

"I must be crazy. Crying with no reason." she said to herself. She was at her bedroom, sitting on a chair in front of the dressing table.

And again, her attention diverted on the frame. She looked at it again, and her eyes continued to water, and she cant help it.

"Why? Why did you have to go, _Riko_?" she sobbed and held the frame to her chest, hugging it. Suddenly, an unforgettable memory played in her head.

**FLASHBACK**

_A 10-year-old girl named Hotaru was happily playing at a garden, with an 11-year-old boy, who had a blonde messy hair and deep cerulean eyes. _

"_Hey Hotaru, let's play 'tag'." said the boy. _

"_Sure, but you'll be the 'it'." she said proudly._

"_Not fair. Uhm. . .Let's see. . .Ah! Let's play rock, paper and scissors first. Whoever gets 3 points, will be chased by the 'it'."_

"_Whatever. But I'm sure I'll win this." she said while smirking and they started playing. The young Hotaru immediately got 3 points and she smirked. The little boy frowned and Hotaru began laughing._

"_Fine! I'm the 'it'. But before we play, let's have an agreement." his face lightened up when he said that. The little girl got confused at what he said and he gave him a questioning look._

"_Say what?"_

"_If ever I had the chance to catch you, you should promise me that you'll marry me at the future and that you wont have any boyfriend, except me." he said with full confidence._

_The little girl look at him indecorously and she chuckled._

"_What are you saying? What if something bad happens, what will I do with the agreement then?" she inquired._

"_Let's just see. Hey! Why did you said that?!" he complained._

"_Why not?"_

"_Once you said something or predicted or whatsoever, it would always come true." he explained._

"_I know. And maybe that's the reason why I said those. Never mind that, are we going to play or not?" she said and started running away from him, while he started chasing her._

"_Slowpoke! You can never catch me!" she teased while running faster. They were running for about, 15 minutes, non-stop._

_Then, she felt that someone grab the hem of her shirt and she heard him say:_

"'_Tag'!" they both stopped running. It was sure a tiring thing to do and both were so exhausted. They sat down on a swing._

"_That was fun!" the little boy said._

"_Yeah. It was." the girl agreed and there was an awkward silence. The little girl then decided to break the silence._

"_So…What now?…I mean…Why did you--" she was cut off when the boy spoke._

"_I made that agreement because,…" he trailed off._

"_Because?" she asked_

"_Because,……I……I like you, that's it." he answered shyly, and he blushed. The little girl smiled, warmly._

"_Really?" was the only word that escaped form her lips. _

_He nodded and he stared intently at her. She look down at the green grassy ground, flattered by what he said. She wasn't quite aware that the boy's face was getting nearer on hers. She wanted to say something, so she tried to look at him._

_Unexpectedly, their eyes widen in shock and blushed furiously, when they knew that their lips touched……accidentally._

_They move apart and looked away._

"_Wrong move." she whispered, enough for him to hear._

"_I know, I'm sorry." he apologized. _

_He just wanted to give her a peck on her cheeks, but he pecked her at the wrong place. He just stole her first kiss. It was also his first._

"_About the agreement, fine. Let's do it." she said, bluntly._

"_Huh?!"_

"_Do I have to repeat it? I said fine. I promise that I, wont have any boyfriend, except….you? And that I'll marry you. Are you happy now?" she asked, feeling a bit embarrassed._

"_Yes. I am extremely happy." he said cheerfully._

"_You also have to do the same."_

"_Uh-huh. I will."_

**END OF FLASHBACK**

More tears came out from her now puffy eyes.

She missed him.

Why did he have to go?

Why did he broke his promise, when she fulfilled hers?

Where is he when she needed him the most?

And most exactly………….

Why did he have to leave her……….alone?

These were the questions she wanted to ask him, which he just left unanswered, and no else could never answer, except…**him**.

She stopped herself from crying. It was surely nonsense. Crying over someone who wont dare to see it. She tried to move on, but she cant, thus pushing Ruka away. Every time she sees him, she sees Riko in him, and not Ruka. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was messed up. How did she turn out like that?

Suddenly, she saw manly figure, standing back and he's wearing all white. A cool breeze touched her. She closed her eyes as she felt that comforting feeling. And when she opened her eyes, the figure vanished, along with the cold air. She stood up and check the windows if she ever left them open, but there were tightly closed. She checked the air conditioner, and it was also turned off. She sat down at the side of her bed. A 'rare' smile suddenly formed in her lips and laid down on her bed. It didn't took her a minute to fell asleep.

And again, the manly figure appeared, and this time, he was beside her, hugging her.

She was dreaming, and in her dreams, he was there.

"_Riko?" she called out._

"_Hi Hotaru." he smiled and she did too._

"_I…I just want you to know that…I miss you…" he said, bitterly. She just look at him, waiting for him to explain things further._

"_I wish we could be together again, but it's just too impossible…I just wanted to say goodbye…I have to go now…I'm sorry if I left you…This is my destiny, and I know we're not for each other…But I'll always…love you, like I always did…Move on…Try to open your heart again…He's there, waiting for you…Love him like you how you loved me…Have a good sleep…" _

_He cupped her chin, kissed her forehead, nose, cheek, and lastly, her lips. Her eyes watered._

"_Don't cry. I cant comfort you." with that, he walked away._

"_Riko?!"_

"_Riko?!"_

"_Riko?!" she called out his name, but he cant hear her now. His figure was eaten uo by a blinding light. _

She woke up, panting hard.

"Riko…" she whispered.

"I'll move on…….and this time, I'll make sure…….I wont disappoint you." she said.

"Thanks for visiting me and…….goodbye……Riko." she added. It was time her time to move on and to forget about him. And this time, she'll stop clinging onto the past.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**To be continued**

**Mysterious person no. 1, Riko, has been revealed. If you're still confused, Riko is Ruka's identical twin. And he was Hotaru's first love. More secrets will be revealed in the next chapters, especially Mikan's real character. Mysterious person no. 2, Yuki, who is she? So stay tuned and please leave a review.**

**For some Sneak peaks**

"**Yuki-nee?"**

"**Mikan-chan!!" and she hugged her YOUNGER sister. **

"**You're Yuki?"**

"**I cant believe you've forgotten about me, Natsu-kun."**

"**I thought you were…"**

"**Dead? No. I'm alive."**

**Natsume was confused.**

"**Yuki-nee, you know him?"**

"**hai. He was the guy I'm talking about."**


	10. Mystery10

**Here's another chapter!! Dedicated to those who support this fic, to those who continuously read this, to those who alerted, and to those who kept on reviewing!! A big thank you for all of you!! Love lots!!**

_**TO: **_

**Zairil20 ~ **_**WOW!! It took you so long to review huh?? Anyway, thank you baka!! Luv you!! yuck!! Too mushy!! Haha…**_

**Yanani ~ **_**well, thanks for reviewing and gomen if this story is confusing you. :D**_

**You_24 ~ **_**hahaha…I guess, you'll know the whole TRUTH in the future :D I cant spill the beans right now, can I??… Hehehe…thanks for the review anyway…**_

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Chapter 10: "She's back!"

"_Guards!" the king called out and few men rushed to his side._

"_Take this lady out and have her head cut off, NOW." he ordered them and he walked away._

"_You'll pay for this, Zyon!! I'll make sure you will!!" the lady screamed, while being dragged by the guards. _

"_Let go, you fools!! Let go off me!!" she tried to break free, but failed. _

"_Zyon, what are you doing?!" all along, the king's wife had witnessed what had happened and it was too obvious that she was panicking._

"_I have to do this. I hope you'll understand." the king replied apologetically._

"_No. You cant. Please don't, Zyon. Please." she cried._

"_She had done so many indecent things, Leira! To you, to us. Who knows if she might even include everyone?!" the king exclaimed, trying to let his wife understand the situation. The lady fell on her knees and she started crying. The king knelt and held his wife in his arms, comforting her._

"_You've got to stop the execution, Zyon. You have to, or else…"_

"_Or else what?"_

_I'm trying to change the mess I've done, Zyon. And this execution of Menllin is not an exception. Something much worse than the past…might…happen again in the future." the lady explained between her sobs. The king then fully understood what his wife meant. He was about to stand up, and order the knights to stop the execution. But the worst part is, a knight came approaching the king, and he bowed as a sign of respect. _

"_Your Majesty. The execution has been successfully finished." said the knight._

"_You may go now." was the only reply the king gave him. The knight then bowed again and walked away. After hearing what the knight had told, the lady couldn't stop crying her eyes out._

"_Now, tell me. What will happen?" the king asked his wife, holding both of her arms and looking straight into her hazel eyes._

"_S-She'll…come back…" not fully getting what the lady told him, he gave her a quizzical and frightened look._

"_Back to life and she'll fulfil the curse she made…She wont stop until…"_

"_Until?"_

"_Until she kills us…all."_

_**CHANGE SCENARIO**_

_A little girl, who had an auburn hair and brown eyes, around 7 years old, was running, making her way to the bench under a Sakura Tree. But unfortunately, before reaching her so-called 'destination', she tripped over a rock. She sat up and saw a wound on her left knee, and blood was oozing from it. She started to cry, because it was painful for her._

_Suddenly, a boy with ruby eyes and raven hair, who seemed to be a year older than her, knelt in front of the crying girl. _

"_Does it hurt that much?" he asked the girl, concern evident in his voice when he saw the wound._

_The little girl nodded her head innocently. _

_Then, the boy helped the girl to stand up and he let her sit at the bench. He gently took the girl's left leg and placed it on his lap. The girl looked at him intently and suddenly, she felt the urge to stop crying and a warm smile made its way to her lips. He took out his handkerchief and began wiping the blood. He had no alcohol nor band aid with him, but he managed to treat her wounds, and he tied the handkerchief around the girl's knee._

"_There. It's done. Does it still hurt?" he asked again, now looking at her._

_The girl then looked at her knee and removed it form his lap. She shook her head._

"_Th-Thanks." she replied shyly._

"_Hn." was the boy's reply, she smiled._

"_You know, don't cry over that. It's just a small wound and it will heal later on. Crying wont solve anything. You should learn how to endure the pain and how to be strong." the boy added._

"_Hmm. Arigato." she smiled brightly at him and he did too._

_The boy then stood up and so did the girl._

"_Thank you again for your kindness, mister." she said._

"_No problem."_

"_Ne, what's your name? I'm Mikan. Mikan Sakura." _

"_I've got to go now, Mikan-chan. I think my mom's calling me. See you around." he said and ran away._

"_Hey! You didn't tell me your name yet!" she shouted and luckily, he heard it._

_He stopped form running and looked back at her._

"_Na--"_

'KKKKKRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG'

Mikan sat up and turned to look at the alarm clock, 6:30 am.

"(-gasp-)I'm LATE!!" she shouted. As usual, she's late. She did her daily morning routines like, brushing her teeth, taking a bath and etc.

After doing so, she went out of her room, completely dressed in neat formal uniform. She checked on Natsume's room first and when she saw no Natsume, she hurriedly went downstairs. And there, she saw him, sitting comfortably on the couch, eating chips.

"SLOWPOKE." he said and rolled his eyes, as he resumed on munching his chips.

"What are you eating?" she asked him.

"Cant you say by just looking?" he retorted.

"That's junk food Natsume! You shouldn't eat that for breakfast!" she said raising her voice and grabbing the chips from him.

"So, you're acting like my mother now huh. Are you concerned, stripes?" he teased, a smirk visible from his face.

"_Stripes?" _and it caught her. She looked at him with an annoyed look. She wanted to fight back, but she knew better. She knows that fighting him back is pure nonsense. She just sighed and dropped the insult he gave her.

"Still, eating junk foods in the morning is **inappropriate.**" she said to him, emphasizing the last word.

Surely, the teasing about her panties, would infuriate her, but this time, she could just drop it down. But the issue about Natsume, eating junk food, she couldn't let that pass, could she?

She went to the kitchen, looking for food which more appropriate to eat for breakfast. She opened the fridge, took out a chocolate spread and a bottle of milk. She placed them at the table, and saw loaves of bread , which were also placed at the table. She went back to the living room, and dragged Natsume to the kitchen.

Natsume examined the food on the table and turned to look at her. He raised a brow at her and said:

"So you call this **appropriate?**"

It was obviously a question, which sounded like a statement. They both sat down, not beside each other, but across each other. Mikan took a piece of bread and started to spread chocolate on it.

"At least this** isn't **junk food. Just try this. It taste good you know. And its more better for your health." she said to him, smiling inwardly, handing him the bread. Natsume looked at it and he just stared at it. Not considering that Mikan's arm might get numb(is that what you call it? Please tell me if it makes sense.)

"Since when did you start becoming a nutritionist?"

"Ugh. Look, I know what's good or bad. So just eat this, please?"

"No."

"Oh please. For once Natsume, could you stop being stubborn?"

"No."

"Oh c'mon. Just try this."

"No."

"Please…" she pleaded with her cute looking puppy dog eyes, ignoring the fact that her right arm was numb.

"Tch. Whatever." he said before taking the 'thing' from her.

He really cant resist those cute eyes Mikan had, can he? He took a bite and started chewing it. Mikan looked at him intently, looking for a comment about the food she suggested. Still, his face remain expressionless, and she cant start eating without his comment. (She's stubborn as well.)

"It taste good, right?" she asked him, looking forward that he'd agree with her.

"…Bad." was his comment.

She wasn't really expecting that that would be his answer.

"Will you please, stop those knavery attitudes of yours?" she asked, totally annoyed by his comment.

"….." Still, he didn't say a word, and it wasn't new for her.

But what do you now, he even managed to finish the food without a disgust on his face.

"How was it?" she asked again.

"G-good." he replied, looking sideways. He wont dare admit, but he was…..shy, when he said that to her.

What completely has gotten into him? He did what she asked her, which was unusual for someone like him to do. And what else? He was shy? For being true for once and in front of her? Wow! The world had turned upside down.

She smiled at him and started eating, since Natsume complimented the food.

"From now on, you wont eat junk foods, unless it's snack time." she said to him.

"Tell me you're joking."

"I'm not joking. I mean it." she said and shook her head.

"I'm your boss, remember? I could eat whatever I want and do whatever I want. So don't go the other way around." he said to her.

"Stop being a FREAKIN' STUPID PERVERT, **master**!!" she shouted, annoyed.

"Whatever." he finally said and finished eating. He drank the glass of milk and stood up, leaving the kitchen.

That was quick.

"You're done?" Mikan asked with disbelief and hurried eating, like a pig. When she was through, she hurriedly washed the dishes and put them back on the proper storage.

She grabbed her bag and saw Natsume, sitting comfortably at the couch, watching TV.

"Ehem…" she tried faking a cough.

"What?" he asked, more like stated, not looking at her.

"Uhm…Don't you have plans on going to school? As you can see, it's almost 7 and times is running, don't you think?" she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So?"

"Ugh." she said with disgust. She walked over to the TV and switched it off, which of course, annoyed Natsume.

"WHY. DID. YOU. DO. THAT?"

Uh-oh, wrong move Mikan.

"(-sigh-)Simple. We **need **to go to school and I don't **want **to be late. You could watch TV later." she explained, crossing her arms over her chest and not noticing the dark aura her fiancé had. He was still there, sitting casually at the couch, glaring at her.

"Well?" she continued. She breathed in and out, walked near him and stood so close to him. She bend over, levelling her head to his, and she waved a hand in front of his face, not realizing their faces were inches apart.

"Hello?!" she said to him and he glared at her.

Now, she was staring at those tantalizing ruby eyes he had and she find it fascinating.

Suddenly,

"_Dug…dug…dug…_" her heart thumped furiously.

"_What is this again?! Think Mikan!! Think!!" _she said to herself and she noticed a smirk made its way to his luscious looking lips. She felt heat inside her body and that her blood was boiling, creeping up to her cheeks. She then stood up straight and looked away, trying to regain back her self. He then, too, stood up, looking at her while she looked away.

"S-Seriously, y-you…Y-you n-need to change t-those bad a-attitudes y-you h-have. Y-…Y-you're giving m-me the c-creeps." she reasoned out, trying to look at him from the corner of her eyes. And when she cant take it anymore, standing so DAMN near to him, she made another excuse.

"L-Let's get g-going." she hurriedly said, and walked over to the door.

She unlocked it first before gong out and closing it again.

"_Argh…Why do I feel so humiliated?!" _she complained, covering her face with her hands.

As for Natsume, he chuckled and smiled.

"_You really are…interesting. You've just made me realize…you're fun to be with." _

He too, went out and locked the door before catching up to her.

-At the car-

**Mikan's POV**

I sighed. I've been wondering, these past few days when I started to meet him, it was just 3 days but I feel like….I've known him all my life. And the dreams…

Now, I remember the dreams I've had. It's weird. 'Leira and Zyon?' Why do I even have to dream about my grandparents? And the last part, Na--? Na-- what? Somehow, it feels so….real. Like it happened before. I don't know if its just my imagination, but deep inside me, I know its real. I heave another sigh. These thoughts are just confusing me, even my Oh-So-Perfect-Boss, not to mention, my Stupid-Pervert FIANCÉE!! I'm being sarcastic now. I mean how could he be so perfect? I really hate it!! Why do I have to be engaged with someone like him? Well, he's handsome, but he's not even my type!! He's a jerk, egoistic brat, narcissist, self-centered and not to mention, a big PERVERT!! Who do you think would be so happy to be engaged with him? Oh yeah, his stupid fan girls. I hate them. And what I hate the most, why do I feel so nervous, yet glad when I'm with him? Wait. Did I just say glad? No way, erase that. Shoo, shoo!! What's happening to me? And why am I even thinking of him right now? I must be crazy. Yeah, crazy. But I don't care, I just want him out of my head.(haha. She's obviously being humble and in denial. :p)

**End of POV**

"What's with you?" a cold voice asked, which made her stop her reverie.

"Huh?" she asked, giving him a quizzical look.

"You're acting weird." he answered.

"What do you mean?" she asked again.

"You were continuously sighing, clenching your fist and hitting your head. Seriously, you may want to be in a mental hospital right now." he said seriously.

"_Really? Did I just did what he said? Ugh. It's his fault anyway. If he could just get out of my head." _

"Did I?" she asked, incredulously.

"Tch. Whatever."

"Hmph. Meanie."

"Dimwit."

"Cold."

"Blabber."

"Jerk."

"Klutz."

"Self-centered arrogant brat."

"Polka-dots panty-girl."

"Idiot."

"Pig-head."

"Shut up!!" now she was annoyed.

"Why don't you?" he retorted.

"Argh…"she groaned.

"Why, cant fight back?"

She didn't respond, knowing **no one** cant beat him, and even her.

"_Almost there."_

Suddenly, she remembered his fan girls. What would they do if they saw her with him? What would the whole campus say if she was seen with him?

"Stop the car." she suddenly said.

"What?" he asked.

"Just stop the car." she repeated.

"We're almost at the academy. Why wou--" but she cut him off.

"That's the point! Everyone might get suspicious of us, especially your fan girls. They might think that we're dating, which isn't!" she explained, raising her voice.

He scowled and stopped the car at the side pf the street. Mikan unbuckled her safety belt and tried to open the door, but she cant. She turned to look at him with a questioning look, but she saw anger in his blood shot eyes.

"Why?!" he said to her. He badly needed an answer from her.

"(-scoffs-) What do you mean 'why'?" she asked.

"Why are you so bothered what the others might say?" he asked. He didn't care about what others will say. He didn't give a damn actually. But he didn't know, that she was thinking of that. Now he came into thinking, did she hate being with him? That she actually cared about the others comment than him?

"It's because I don't want then to get the wrong idea!" he heard her answer.

"And what is that 'wrong idea' of yours?" he asked her. Not that he didn't get it, he just wanted to know what her answer really is.

"That **you **and **I** are engaged." she answered.

And it struck him. She didn't want the idea of her being engaged with him? She didn't want to be with him? Somehow, he felt betrayed. He was hurt by what she said to him, but he wont stop.

"So, you're saying that you being engaged with me is a wrong idea?" he asked her again.

"Hell, yes!"

"So, you care more for your 'charming-good-looking image' and don't want to be called the 'Ms. Fiancée of _THE_ Natsume Hyuuga'?" he asked again, raising his voice.

Now he went overboard. Of course he knew the answer for that, but he really wanted to know. He didn't exactly know the reason why, but he was angry and it annoyed him that Mikan doesn't want him as her fiancé. It annoyed the hell out of him!

As for Mikan, she was quite surprised by his recent actions. And when she stared again on his crimson eyes, this time, the anger was replaced by loneliness. It was like they were pleading her to stay with him and not to leave him alone. She felt like she made a wrong move and regret what she did. And somehow, she wanted to throw her arms around him. But her mind wont just agree with her heart.

"_Please, don't." _he prayed and she looked down.

"I…I'm…" she trailed off. Deep inside her, she wanted him to say that 'no, just stay with me.' and she will obliged. But no, she knew he wont do that. For a guy like him, it's impossible.

"_Please, stay." _he prayed again, hoping that she wont leave. But what she said was what he didn't want to hear.

"…sorry." she said almost in a whisper, but enough for him to hear.

"Fine." he said that made her look up to him. He opened the locks, but he didn't look at her.

"So, every morning will be like this huh?" he said again.

"Please, don't give me a ride every morning and dismissal, starting tomorrow and the rest of the week." she said, tears threatening to form and swallowed the lump in her throat. She hop out of his car, closed the door and look at him again, but he didn't look back at her.

"_What's happening to me?" _she asked herself again, hurt by the words she said to him. It's not that she didn't mean to, she didn't just know what hit her head to say those words to him.

He drove away fast, making a screeching sound.

"_I…I'm…sorry. Please, don't give me a ride every morning and dismissal, starting tomorrow and the rest of the week." _her words kept ringing on his head, and he cant avoid getting hurt. He felt that the thing inside his chest was ripped off and something was squeezing it hard. That's what he felt.

-Alice Academy-

It has been 10 days, when Mikan knew that Natsume was her fiancée, and 7 days when she became her personal maid, because of vomiting his polo shirt. And those days were her worst days. Receiving death glares and threat from Natsume's fan girls, doing everything Natsume ordered her, and what else? Being his fiancé, and making fun of her. Hah! She really hated those 10 days, being with him. And it annoyed her. But somehow, deep inside her, she was grateful meeting and knowing him, except for what happened 4 days ago.

4 days passed and the situation was still the same.

"_I can do this. I've got only 2 weeks left. And viola! Not anymore his servant and I'm free." _she thought.

"Sakura!"

"_This will end soon. And I swear to death that I will never do what he tell me."_

"Sakura!"

"_But, I've got to admit, I was hurt by what he said. He should apologize and not me. I will never apologize to him."_

"No. Never!" she shouted standing up, banging her fists on her desk, and gaining her classmates' attention. She wasn't listening to the discussion, and it was clearly because of Natsume again.

"Would you care to answer what's on the board or share what's on your head? I've been calling your name for 10 times now, Ms. Sakura. Maybe you want anther detention?" the terror teacher, Jinno-sensei said.

"Uh. . ." she uttered nervously.

"Well?"

"Uh. . .S-sumimasen, s-sensei." she said, bowing her head before walking in front.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." she heard her classmates say.

She took the chalk on the chalk ledge and looked at the equation.

Solve: x/2 + 3x = 7

She gulped.

"Having troubles, Ms. Sakura?" the terror teacher asked.

She gulped again and started to sweat.

"I-Iyeh. . ." she answered nervously and tried to solve the equation.

[x/2 + 3x] (2) = [7] (2)

x + 6x = 14

7x = 14

x= 2

Was her answer.

Her classmates, including Jinno, was in awe and shocked, except for two persons, who were Hotaru and Natsume.

"Okay, you may take your seat now. Daydream again on my class and you'll be in detention. Is that clear?"

"H-hai. . ." Mikan answered before taking her seat beside Natsume.

The bell rang. It was lunchtime, and almost all students in Class 4-A hurriedly went out of the room. Mikan sighed and slumped her head on her desk. Hotaru was about to get out when she noticed her idiotic friend.

"What has gotten into you?" she asked, which sounded like a statement.

Mikan straighten up her head and looked at her stoic friend.

"I'm tired of serving him." she complained.

"Is that all? I'm out of here." Hotaru said as she made her way out.

"Wait! Hotaru!" she called out, and followed her.

"What?"

"Could I join you? Please.." she pleaded with her puppy-dog-eyes.

"That wont work. No."

"Waah! You're so mean!"

"So?"

"Hmph. Fine! I'll go somewhere else!" and she started walking away from her. Hotaru stared at Mikan's retreating figure.

"I was just joking. You really are a baka." she whispered and a smile escaped her lips.

She stared at the cold floor before heading at the cafeteria.

-Somewhere in Alice Academy-

Mikan was walking while staring at the green glassy floor. She abruptly stop walking and look at her surroundings. She was under the Sakura Tree and pink petals were falling from it. She sat down and leaned on its trunk. She closed her eyes as she felt the cool air soothe her skin.

"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked.

She opened her eyes and crimson met hazel. Her eyes widen in shock when she realized that her face was only centimeters away from him, and it made her blush madly.

"What?" he asked. She could feel her hot breath and it send shivers down her spine.

"W-What a-are y-you doing here too?" she asked back. She didn't expect that he'll speak to her again.

"You didn't answer my question. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

"D-don't I h-have t-the r-right to s-spend my time alone?" she answered while stuttering.

"Why do you want to be alone?"

"B-bec-cause…..I…..I…..w-want to be a-alone." she reasoned out, trying to look away from his melting gaze.

"What a lame excuse." he muttered under his breath, sitting beside her.

"Y-you? W-what are y-you doing h-here?" she asked him.

"Nothing. Mind your business, blueberries." he said and took out his manga.

"What's your problem?" she said.

And suddenly, the insult he gave registered on her brain.

"Why YOU STUPID PERVERT!!" she screamed.

"Shut up, polka."

"I have a name and it's not POLKA!!" she shouted, annoyed.

"Whatever. I'm still your boss, remember?"

"Hmph. So what?"

"DO what I tell you."

"What is it this time?"

"Kiss me."

"Say what?! Are you out of your--" she was cut off by warm his warm and soft lips.

"mind?" she continued when he broke the kiss.

"W-Why d-did y-you k-kiss m-me?" she asked, shyly. It wasn't her first kiss, it was her second. The first was an accident, and this time, he asked for it. No, he rather stole it, not ask for it!

"I. . .Forget it." he said, stood up, and walked away. Leaving a Mikan confused, dumfounded and hurt….again.

Tears suddenly formed in her eyes, when his last words registered in her head.

"_Forget it? That's just it?! How could I just forget that?!" _she asked in her thoughts and tears started rolling in her cheeks.

2 weeks passed and her occupation as a personal maid was through. Mikan was currently at her bedroom, lying down on her queen-sized bed. Those 3 weeks of serving him was surely tiring. And thinking of what she really feel for him made her confused and tired of thinking. She sighed as she stared at the white ceiling above her. She cant get over the days she argued with him and the stolen kiss under the Sakura Tree.

A knock from the door made her snap back to reality.

"Come in." was the only words she said. She sat up, the door opened and saw the guy that made her soo confused.

"Hi." she said, trying to appear cheerful and like nothing happened at all.

"Hn." was his reply.

"Do you need something?" she asked, making an excuse to kill the silence that was engulfing them.

"Fix your things." he said plainly.

"Fix? Why?" she asked, bewildered.

"We'll move to the mansion." he said and went out, closing the door.

She didn't hesitate to do what he said, and she began fixing her things.

-At the car again-

Both of them were quiet, only music can be heard. Although, Mikan wasn't used to silence, she get used to it because of Natsume.

"Would you like to visit your mom first?" she heard Natsume asked. She looked at him with a confused look.

"We could stop over for a while if you want to." he added and she smiled.

"Sure. Thanks." she said and looked at the window again.

-Sakura Residence-

Mikan excitedly hop out of the car. She pressed the doorbell and the gates opened.

"C'mon Natsume." she said to him. He was about to reject, but he realized he was being rude to his soon-to-be parents in-law. He killed the engines and hop out of his car, and they went inside.

"Mom." she called out and run to hug her mother.

"Mikan-chan! How are you?" her mother asked, hugging her daughter back.

"I'm fine mom. Where's dad?" she asked.

"As usual, his busy working." her mom answered.

Natsume felt out of place. He wasn't used to see those kind of 'too sweet mother-daughter scenes'.

"Mom, Natsume is here." Mikan said and she grab hold of his hand.

"Good evening, Mrs. Sakura." he greeted respectfully and bowed.

"Good evening to you too." Mikan's mom greeted back.

"Tell me Natsume, did my silly daughter gave you a hard time?"

"No, ma'am. She didn't." he answered.

"You're too modest. Just call me mom."

With what Yuka said, Mikan blushed and felt embarrassed.

"Yes, mom." he answered.

"Anyway, Mikan, you wouldn't believe who's here." Yuka continued, and suddenly, a girl with fair complexion, auburn hair that reached her waist, had hazel orbs and a warm smile went downstairs. Natsume's eyes widen and he was shocked, although it wasn't seen in his expressionless face. He felt joy when he saw her…**again.**

"Yuki-nee?" Mikan asked, letting go of her hold in Natsume's hands.

"Mikan-chan!" the look-alike-Mikan said and stretched her arms, and ran to hug her YOUNGER sister.

"Yuki-nee!" Mikan almost yelled, and hugged her sister back. No words cant explain her excitement when she saw her onee-chan again.

"You're Yuki?" he asked. He really cant believe that in front of him, was his first love, Yuki. And he was confused.

Yuki turned to look at the raven-haired guy and she smiled mischievously.

"I cant believe you've forgotten about me, **Natsu-kun**." Yuki said to him, breaking the hug with her sister.

It was true then. She really **is** Yuki, but he was having doubts. He knew Yuki was dead, so how did she came back…**alive?**

"I thought you were..."

"Dead? No. I'm alive. Can't you see?" Yuki said, walked over to him and hugged him.

"You know him, nee-chan?" Mikan asked her sister, and she felt jealous when she saw her fiancé hugged her sister back.

Yuki broke the hug and she gave a peck on his cheeks.

"Hai. He was the guy I'm telling you. Hyuuga Natsume." Yuki said and smiled.

……………………………….........................................................................................................

**To be continued**

**Wow!! Quite long, eh?? don't you agree?? Uhm, sorry if I made it like 4 days passed or 2 weeks passed. I just need to write the most important thing and 4 days or 2 weeks are a part of it. Well, drop me some reviews!! I deserve more reviews right now, don't you think?? Hehehe, just kidding… but please, keep reviewing and I'll keep updating…who knows, if ever I received more reviews than usual, I might update quick like you wanted me to. It's up to you now. Haha… review review review!! **

**To these people out there: THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL OF YOU!! **

**Zairil20**

**Yanani**

**You_24**

**Mini pink boe**

**Strawberriesn'Flames11**

**Sapphire encrusted locket **

**Enemrizza **

**Animechic12**

**HarunaNiwa073 **

**kazukarin **

**black neko hime**

**iVoRyBuBbLeS**

**Natsume0Mikan**

**azuki-sakura**

**Thea=)**

**07**

**egearandwriting**

**mid**

**nanamiluchia14**

**FHKJ**

**2Lazy2MakeAnAccount**

**emerald325**

**The Solitude of Sayuri**

**Nuyun**

**ARIGATO GUSAIMASU**


	11. Mystery11

**Another chapter for you guys to read, enjoy and of course, review!! Love lots to all of you!! Whoa!! Now that's what I'm talking about!! From 48 to 62 reviews at the last chapter really inspired me in writing more…but…**

**I also want to apologize for taking me long time to update. Classes just resumed last June 8, so I will be taking a long time again to update. And I have a 1-hour limit on using my own laptop, my mom told me so, and I have to follow her!! Gosh!! But even if it takes me a while to update, I'll make sure that the following chapters will be long enough.**

**And of course, I wanted to say a BIG thank you to:**

**Nuyun ~ for encouraging me and for the nice review!! Thank you so much, I really appreciated it!! Hope you enjoy this chapter, and as requested, this chapter is a bit long!!**

**For the others as well:**

**Lovepikachu12 ~ to tell you the truth, I have no idea at all on how many chapters I'm planning to write. But I guess it wont be over 30+ or 40+.**

**Kdyuk**

**meg**

**Natsume0Mikan**

**Enemrizza**

**fkyusdk**

**Zairil20**

**FHKJ**

**Yanani**

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**HarunaNiwa07**

**Kazukarin**

**Mzchronicle**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!! :D**

**Disclaimer:**Obviously, I don't own Gakuen Alice. I wish I do own it but I'm just a big fan.

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Chapter 11:"New classmates, new villains?"

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_4 years ago in Italy……_

_A school bus was running fast along the road. Unexpectedly, a car. As if on cue, the school bus avoided the car and hit the tree. Luckily, no student was hurt, even the driver of the school bus. But unfortunately, the car turned upside down and the passengers were deeply hurt. _

_It all happened so fast that an accident occurred. The polices and rescue teams finally arrived at the spot. They helped the victims out of the car, placed on a separate stretcher and inside the ambulance. Unfortunately, the 2 passengers passed away, except for one. The boy survived but he's in a critical condition._

_The phone suddenly rang and Ruka answered it._

"_Hello?"_

"_Hello, may I speak to Mrs. Nogi?" a voice form the other line said._

"_Uhm, my mommy's not here. Who's this please?" _

"_A nurse from the hospital, I'm afraid to let you know that you have to get in here. Your brother, Riko met an accident and his in a critical state." with that, the line ended._

_-At the Hospital-_

_Ruka, along with his parents, came to the hospital with worried faces. They were informed that Riko Nogi was at the emergency room and was currently being treated by the doctors. They didn't have a choice but to wait patiently, for the doctor to tell them what happened. Mrs. Nogi was crying her eyes out, while her husband comforted her. Ruka on the other hand, didn't cry. He was just seating quietly, but it was seen in his eyes that he was worried for his twin brother._

_After 8 hours of waiting, the doctor came out. They all went near to the doctor and,_

"_Are you related to the young patient, Riko Nogi?" the doctor asked._

"_Yes, doctor." Ruka's father answered. The doctor looked down and from his facial expression, they all got nervous._

"_Doctor, where's my son? Is he alright? Could I check on him now?" his mother panicked and her hands were shaking. The doctor looked at them and sighed heavily._

"_I'm sorry to say but…He's in a critical condition right now. He hit his head hard and now…" _

"_Now what doctor?" "He's in a coma and there's a 50% chance that he might live again. If he didn't wake up within the next 72 hours, then I'm afraid he cant make it. I'm sorry." the doctor said before walking away. _

_Suddenly, few nurses walked out of the emergency room, pushing the bed(with wheels) carefully, with a boy unconscious laying down. When they saw the patient, they followed the nurses, until the patient was placed at an I.C.U.. There was a tube between his lips called respirator, dextrose and a bandage around his forehead. He looked pitiful in his state._

_-The next 2 days-_

_A 12-year-old came running to the hospital and she went directly at the I.C.U. When she saw the boy, tears welled up in her violet eyes. _

"_Hotaru-chan." Mrs. Nogi called out._

"_Mrs. Nogi." she said, fighting back her tears and looked at the boy again._

"_I'll leave you for a while." Mrs. Nogi said and smiled at her._

_Ruka looked at the girl first before leaving the room. He didn't exactly left the room, instead he left the door slightly open and he decided to eavesdrop on them, ._

_Hotaru sat on a chair beside Riko and she held his hands. The tears that she tried to fight back, came running down her cheeks. And she had no idea that Ruka heard her sob, and it saddened him for some unknown reason. _

_Suddenly, Riko's fingers flinched, and his eyes jarred open. _

"_H-Ho-Hotaru…" he uttered, which made the her stood up from her seat._

"_R-Riko…Are you alright?" she asked, panic was evident in he shaky voice, and he just nodded._

"_Why are you crying?" he asked._

"_You made me worried, baka!" Hotaru almost exclaimed._

"_I'm fine. Stop crying now, I don't want to see you cry."_

"_Be careful next time. What if something bad happens again?! What if you almost die in that accident, what do you think I will do?!" _

"_You're predicting again."_

"_I am not. Just…(-sigh-) I'll call the others." she said and stood up. Seeing that she will approach them, he hurriedly closed the door quietly._

"_Riko's awake." she said plainly when she opened the door._

_Ruka, rushed inside the room. His mom called for the doctor, and it didn't take a while for the doctor who came inside the room. _

"_He's fine now." the doctor said as he straightened himself after checking Riko, and they all sighed in relief._

"_Mrs. Nogi, I have to tell you something." the doctor added. From the tone of his voice, something was wrong. The mother and the doctor went out of the room, leaving the 3 kids._

_Ruka had a feeling that the doctor had a bad news, so again, he decided to eavesdrop. _

"_Mrs. Nogi, I'm glad that your son woke up." the doctor said._

"_Thank you, doc." Mrs. Nogi replied._

"_But…" the doctor trailed off and he lowered his head._

"_What is it, doctor?" _

_The doctor looked at Mrs Nogi with a sad look on his face._

"'_His vital signs are fine, but…it's weakening. We checked his brain through CT scan and we have seen that the medulla weren't functioning well, and I'm afraid that his life may be at risk." he explained._

"_Doctor, what do you mean?" _

"_There's a blood clot on the upper part of his brain which affected the medulla. If it continues to bleed, then his heartbeat would stop…and.."_

"_And?…"_

"_He might die."_

"_D-Die? D-Doctor, is there any solutions to it?! I could pay high amount of money. Just find a cure and make him live. Doctor, please…" Mrs. Nogi cried, she didn't want to lose her son._

"_I'm really sorry, but there's nothing we could do. All we could do, is to pray for his safety and wait for the bleeding to stop." with that, he walked away, leaving a desperate mother. _

_Unbeknown to them, Ruka heard everything._

"_Riko will die?!" he thought as he looked at his brother and the girl his brother love._

_For a moment there, he was frightened. He didn't want to loose his brother, nor see his friend in desperate of loosing Riko._

"_You cant leave, Riko. You just cant. You have to live, and I cant let you die." he said again in his thoughts, assured that no miracle will happen tonight. But he didn't lose hope, and he didn't want to lose the last hope he had._

"_You do really love her, don't you?" he asked no one in particular, watching Riko and Hotaru chitchat happily._

_The girl stood up and excused herself, leaving the twins alone._

"_Ruka…" his twin brother called out. Ruka went over to his side and looked at him._

"_Could you do me a favor?" Riko continued, having difficulties in saying thise words to him._

"_Sure, what is it?" Ruka asked. If it was for his brother, he will be willing to do it. _

"_If ever…I leave this world…"_

"_Don't say that, you know you'll live again, Riko." he cut his brother off. He didn't want to hear whatever he's going to say. It's not that he's not prepared, he just didn't want to hear his brother will be leaving them…forever._

"_Let me finish, Ruka." Riko said, noticing the lonely eyes his twin brother had._

_Ruka sighed in defeat. He didn't have a choice, did he?_

"_Fine. What is it?" he asked._

"_Promise me one thing." Riko started. _

_Ruka smiled. _

"_Sure. Anything." he said to him, it was his brother asking for a favor and he will never hesitate, not until_

"_Promise me that you'll take care of her. Love her the way I did, and you should never make her cry." Riko stated._

_Ruka's smile turned upside down when he heard his brother say that. Did he heard him correctly? Was it just his imagination? Surely, he liked what he said, but he didn't know what urge him to protest._

"_What do you mean, Riko? You know I cant do that." he said to him with a quizzical look. _

"_You said you'll promise me anything. I know you like her and I want you to do it, Ruka…for me…and for her…" he explained, which made him taken aback. He stared blankly at the space, thinking on doing it or just ditch it._

"_So what do you say?" Riko asked again, seeing his brother spacing out and he snapped back in reality._

_He didn't want to disappoint him. If he said yes, he'll surely be glad and wont have any troubles of leaving her. But if he said no, he's afraid that he'll get mad, and he just let him hoped for nothing._

_He smiled at him._

"_Sure. I will do it." he finally said._

"_Thanks Ruka." he said as he sighed, and Ruka just nodded._

"_Protect her and don't let her cry, dude. Because if ever I see her cry, I wont stop visiting you every night." he said with a menace, and they both chuckled._

_-At the hospital-_

_Morning came, and they expected that everything will turn out right, especially for the Ruka Family, since Riko woke up. When they reached Riko's room, they wondered why the doctor and other nurses were surrounding him? Mr. and Mrs. Nogi ran to Riko's side, as for Ruka and Hotaru, they were both stuck on their place, bewildered of what was really happening. _

_Then the machine beeped so loud, and the line went straight. The doctor looked at them, apologetically, and shook his head when he said: _

"_I'm sorry, but we lost him." _

_The doctor went out, along with the nurses, carrying Riko's cold body. Mrs. Nogi cried. She was in great sorrow for losing her son, and thus Mr. Nogi, who comforted his wife. Ruka looked at his right side, where he saw Hotaru was standing a while ago, but she was not there. He went out of the room, searching for her. Suddenly, he reached the morgue room, and fortunately, he saw her there. She was standing beside the cold body of his brother. Her face was expressionless, but he knew she was in grief. He didn't walked over to her, instead, he just stood beside the doorframe, watching her every move._

_He couldn't deny the fact that he felt sad, and anger was inside him when his brother died. _

_Then, he heard her, sobbing. He looked at her and he saw her hugging him. He didn't know what to do, when he heard her sobbed. Will he comfort her? He didn't know, he just watched. Then, he saw her kissing him on his forehead, his nose, cheeks, and lastly, his cold lips. Usually, he'd be jealous when he sees them doing that. But this time, he didn't. He knew how hurt she was, and he knew he had no right to feel that way._

_Suddenly, she ran out of the morgue room, with tears running down her fair cheeks. He wanted to follow after her, but he didn't. He then turned to look at his brother, grief anf anger was inside him. _

"_I told you not to leave, haven't I?" he said to no one in particular, his cerulean eyes started to water._

"_Why Riko? Why?" he continued, as a tear rolled down his eye. The conversation he had with his brother, suddenly came back to his mind. it's a promise he must fulfil. It's a promise he mustn't forget nor destroy. For that promise, was very important to his brother, especially to him. He didn't know if he could fulfil it, but he will. Because it was all about the girl, who he considered his special friend._

_He cried, just by looking at his twin brother._

"_I promise, I'll do everything you asked me." he added._

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"What was that about?" he asked himself, waking up from his slumber as he sat up on his king-sized bed. He sighed. How could he forget the promise he made?

"_I told you, I wont stop visiting you if I see her cry."_

He turned to look at his sides, expecting that somehow, someone was inside.

"Who said that?" he asked again. He couldn't be wrong, he heard it right.

"Maybe it was just my imagination." he muttered as he closed his eyes, trying to erase everything that just happened. Hearing voices is not a good sign, especially if you're alone.

"_No, it wasn't."_ He heard it again and his eyes faltered open. What was happening? Why was he hearing voices? He shook his head.

"Imagination, only your imagination." he kept on saying it to his self.

"_Oh really? I doubt that."_

Now, he seriously cant take it anymore. First, he dreamt about his twin brother, second, hearing voices?! That's insane, not for the first part though.

But then, he came to realize, the voice was familiar, and it belonged to…

"Yo." Natsume greeted as he entered his bedroom, along with Koko, Yuu and Kitsuneme.

"Are you making fun of me? Well, I'm telling you, it wasn't funny." he said, irritated by the fact that he was actually freaked out, hearing unusual voices.

"It was, actually." Koko teased with a mocking grin.

"For you." Ruka retorted and rolled his eyes.

"God Ruka, I cant believe that you're actually serious right now. What has happened to you?" Kitsuneme teased.

"Hey stop it. I bet he got off the wrong side of bed today." Yuu said.

"What's the catch?" Ruka asked them.

"Nothing much. Just a party tonight." Natsume answered sternly.

"Why?" Ruka asked again, giving them a quizzical look.

"Yuki's back." Natsume stated, expressionless as ever.

"She is?! But I thought she was--"

"She wasn't. And she's my future sister in-law."

"WHAT??!! Are you serious?!"

"Do I look like I'm bluffing?"

"Fine."

………………………………_....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................._

**FLASHBACK**

_Mikan excitedly hop out of the car. She pressed the doorbell and the gates opened._

"_C'mon Natsume." she said to him. He was about to reject, but he realized he was being rude to his soon-to-be parents in-law. He killed the engines and hop out of his car, and they went inside._

"_Mom." she called out and run to hug her mother._

"_Mikan-chan! How are you?" her mother asked, hugging her daughter back._

"_I'm fine mom. Where's dad?" she asked._

"_As usual, his busy working." her mom answered._

_Natsume felt out of place. He wasn't used to see those kind of 'too sweet mother-daughter scenes'._

"_Mom, Natsume is here." Mikan said and she grab hold of his hand._

"_Good evening, Mrs. Sakura." he greeted respectfully and bowed._

"_Good evening to you too." Mikan's mom greeted back._

"_Tell me Natsume, did my silly daughter gave you a hard time?" _

"_No, ma'am. She didn't." he answered._

"_You're too modest. Just call me mom." _

_With what Yuka said, Mikan blushed and felt embarrassed._

"_Yes, mom." he answered._

"_Anyway, Mikan, you wouldn't believe who's here." Yuka continued, and suddenly, a girl with fair complexion, auburn hair that reached her waist, had hazel orbs and a warm smile went downstairs. Natsume's eyes widen and he was shocked, although it wasn't seen in his expressionless face. He felt joy when he saw her…__**again.**_

"_Yuki-nee?" Mikan asked, letting go of her hold in Natsume's hands._

"_Mikan-chan!" the look-alike-Mikan said and stretched her arms, and ran to hug her YOUNGER sister._

"_Yuki-nee!" Mikan almost yelled, and hugged her sister back. No words cant explain her excitement when she saw her onee-chan again._

"_You're Yuki?" he asked. He really cant believe that he in front of him, was his first love, Yuki. And he was confused._

_Yuki turned to look at the raven-haired guy and she smiled mischievously._

"_I cant believe you've forgotten about me, __**Natsu-kun**__." Yuki said to him, breaking the hug with her sister. _

_It was true then. She really __**is**__ Yuki, but he was having doubts. He knew Yuki was dead, so how did she came back…__**alive?**_

"_I thought you were…"_

"_Dead? No. I'm alive, cant you see?" Yuki said and hugged Natsume._

"_You know him, nee-chan?" Mikan asked her sister and felt jealousy tingling inside her when she saw her fiancé hugged her sister back._

_Yuki then gave him a peck on his cheeks._

"_Hai. He was the guy I'm telling you. Hyuuga Natsume." Yuki said and smiled and he smiled back._

_Mikan looked at her mother, but she only saw a smile escaped her lips when she looked at Yuki and Natsume. She felt weird._

"_Y-Yuki…" she heard Natsume whispered._

"_Natsu-kun, you're still the same as ever." Yuki said to him._

"_What's happening in here?" Mikan thought, confused of what was happening between her fiancée and her sister._

_Suddenly, she recall her conversation with Yuki, before she left for Paris, France._

_-------_

_**Flashback**_

"_Yuki-nee, are you really leaving?" a 12-year old girl asked her sister, sadly, who was 2 years older than her._

"_Hn, Mikan-chan. Grandma needs me there. And besides, I will be coming back someday, with our __**nii-san**__." Yuki answered her little sister, as she gently stroke her sister's auburn tips._

_Mikan frowned. She didn't want her nee-chan to leave._

"_But why? I thought you didn't want to leave because of…who's he again?" she asked sheepishly. Yuki smiled at her sister's reaction._

"_He's Natsu-kun." she answered._

"_Natsu-kun?" Mikan asked again as she smiled mockingly at her sister._

"_Do you like him, nee-chan?" she asked, a glint of happiness evident in her hazel orbs._

_Yuki blushed like a tomato after hearing what Mikan said, she giggled and nodded as her answer._

"_If you like him, then why do you have to leave? He'll be sad, if he knew you're leaving." Mikan said sadly._

"_I know that, but I have to. You may not understand right now, but someday you will." she replied._

"_(-sigh-) I really don't want you to leave, nee-chan." Mikan cried as she hugged her tight._

"_We'll each other again, Mikan-chan. So don't feel sad." she assured her that everything will turn out well._

"_Ne, Yuki-nee. What's he like? The Natsu-kun guy?"_

"_Ohh. He's name is Hyuuga Natsume. He had those tantalizing ruby eyes, and raven hair. When you were 4 years old and you're staying in England, I met him at Italy. At first, I thought he was rude because he used to call me "polka-dots"."_

"_Polka-dots?"_

"_It's…the print of my undies…"_

"_Eh?! HE SAW YOUR UNDIES??!!"_

_Yuki blushed, embarrassed by what she said._

"_Continue." Mikan said, like nothing happened and Yuki sweat dropped at her reactions._

"_Uhm…Then, I met a girl, who was his cousin and we became friends. I realized, he wasn't that rude at all. He was cold, but deep inside, he has a nice heart. The reason why he acted cold, was because of his parents. They didn't give him the attention he needs, and he was used to being alone at their big mansion, when his parents were not coming home. Then, we started hanging out in his house, until we became close. That's when I started liking him." Yuki narrated._

_Mikan stared blankly at her, but it was seen in her eyes that she was touched by what her sister told her._

"_Oh." was the only reply Yuki received from her._

"_KYAA~~" Mikan suddenly screamed._

"_He's such a nice guy, Yuki-nee. I just wish I could see him."_

"_Why so?"_

"_I wanted to see if you're perfect for each other, but from your story nee-chan, I'm starting to like him for you." she grinned. Yuki was slightly moved and smiled shyly._

"_Arigato, Mikan-chan. Demo, don't tell that story to otou-san and okaa-san, ne?" _

"_Hai, Yuki-nee! Your secrets are safe with me." she cheered happily, and saluted. Yuki laughed at her sister's childish actions, and she was glad for having her. _

"_I really am gonna miss you, lil sis." Yuki whispered, enough for Mikan to hear._

"_Me too. Nee-chan, if you reached Paris, tell grandma, grandpa and nii-san that I miss them so much."_

"_I will."_

_**End of Flashback**_

_-------_

"_So, Natsume is Yuki-nee's first love?" Mikan thought sadly. _

_She cant believe it. Seeing the way Natsume hugged Yuki back, the way Yuki kissed Natsume on his cheek, and the way she saw him smiled back at her. She felt like she was rejected….again. And it was painful for her, but why? Why was she jittery when he's around, why does she blushes when he's so near her, why is there a sudden electric-feeling when he touched her hands, why did her heart raced faster when she sees him? These were just series of questions came popping out of her head, and she didn't know the answer to them. Does she needs them to be answered? Or will she just ignore the fact that she was getting hurt every time Natsume's with a different girl? Not only a girl, but a girl who was her older sister. _

"_Natsume." he's name kept ringing on her head._

_Suddenly, she felt the thing inside her chest flinched a little, and her warm smile was replaced by a frown. She lowered her head, she didn't want to let Natsume and Yuki see that she was……lonely. Why? She was supposed to be happy, and not the other way around. She was supposed to be happy because Yuki came back. She was supposed to be happy because now, she had a reason to cancel the engagement between her and Natsume. She was supposed to be happy because Yuki saw her first love again. _

_But why did her happiness for her sister was replaced by an unknown emotion? Why was she….hurt when she saw that? Why? Those were just the questions she had, in which she did not know the answer. And her questions seriously stabbed her heart. It was painful for her to endure. _

**End of Flashback**

"Mikan!!" a cold voice called out for the umpteenth time.

"H-Huh? W-what?" she uttered, breaking her reverie and looked at the person who called her.

"You're spacing out. I bet you didn't catch what we said." Anna said and Hotaru rolled her eyes.

"Uhm…Sorry. What are you talking about anyway?" she asked, physically present but mentally absent about what they were talking about. They were at the academy's cafeteria.

"It was about the subject we had, Mikan-chan." Nonoko smiled and Mikan gave a slight smile.

"Oh." was her only reply.

"Something's bothering you?" Sumire asked.

"H-Huh? N-No. nothing. I-I'm fine." she lied, trying to reassure her friends that everything was fine. But actually, she wasn't.

"Bad liar." she heard Hotaru whisper.

Suddenly, the door of the cafeteria opened and revealed Natsume with his friends. The girls went

"KYAA~~"

"Natsume-sama!!"

And you know what else.

"Tch. Stupid." Natsume muttered under his breath, and his attention diverted to a certain brunette. Their eyes met, but Natsume rolled his eyes and went to an empty table, which was one table apart from Mikan's.

Mikan lowered her head, as she felt something crashing inside her. He's ignoring me, she thought, and she hated it.

"What did Hyuuga do this time?" she heard Hotaru whispered to her ear. She looked at her violet eyes and she just smiled.

"He didn't do anything." she said with full confidence, but Hotaru knew she was lying and faking a smile.

"Hotaru-san, what do you mean by that? Are they dating?" Sumire asked with a loud voice, which made every girl in the cafeteria stare at her in horror.

Mikan gulped. She wasn't expecting this coming.

"I-Iyeh…W-We're not dating." she answered, trembling form the intense glares she was receiving. Mikan then looked at Natsume and he stared intensely at her. Mikan saw his crimson orbs darkened.

"Idiot." she saw him mouthing that word to her.

"Why are you lying _Mikan_?" Sumire asked in a whisper. And with what Sumire called her, she admit that she was taken aback. She was used to Sumire calling her names or Sakura-san, but despite that, they were friends. Mikan looked her with a questioning look. She then looked at the twins and Hotaru.

"You know?" she asked them.

The twins looked at each other, to Sumire, to Hotaru, then to Mikan.

"Hai." the twins, along with Sumire, answered in unison.

"H-How?"

"Uhm…Remember the time we went to the bar?" Nonoko asked.

"Sumire and I actually overheard your conversation with Hotaru-chan, at the comfort room." Anna confessed.

"But don't worry, we didn't tell anyone." Sumire said to her and she felt relieved.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"Hotaru!" a familiar voice called out. She was walking down the hall, towards her classroom, when she stopped to look at whoever called her name. But to her dismay, she wished she didn't looked back when she saw him. She didn't want to see him, not now. She wanted and needed to move on, but seeing him makes her want to cling onto the past. But she wont. She know she'll disappoint Riko and that she wanted him to be happy. "Nogi, what do you want?" she asked, cold as ever. She was doing this for him(Riko) and for herself, but for Ruka…was he even included? Was she also doing these for him?

"I…Sorry about last time." Ruka said. He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't even know what pushed him to call her!

Hotaru looked at him, not even saying a word.

"Uhm…I…" now he was out of excuses. What will he say? And what was he doing? Making a fool out of himself?

"Is that all?" she asked him.

"Uh…Yeah." he replied sheepishly.

"I see." she said as she tried to walk away, but a hand stopped her from walking away. She looked at the hand which was wrapped around her wrist, then at his sky-blue eyes.

"What is it this time?" she asked him icily, and suddenly, he started dragged her.

Surprised by his sudden actions, she didn't get a chance to halt, because right now, they were running and his grip on her was tight. If only she had her baka gun with her, she might have let him stop, but unfortunately, the baka gun was at her locker.

--------

"Why are we here?" she asked. She wasn't the person who would start a conversation, but this was an exception. She was curious onto why he had brought her on the school's park with a fascinating lake in front of them. She remembered those times when Ruka and Riko used to bring her at a beautiful park and appreciate the nice lake.

"To tell you the truth, I really want to tell you something." Ruka started. He cant avoid the fact that he was actually nervous and had no idea on what to say.

"I-" but he was cut off when she said:

"Make it quick. I still have classes to attend to."

He took a deep breath before saying:

"I want to make it up to you. I…I just want make you and him happy." sincerely.

She stared at his cerulean eyes, as a gentle breeze soothe them. She didn't utter a single word.

"P-Please, give me a chance." he said again, with his eyes pleading. She looked away and diverted her attention at the lake. She bit her lower lip as she recalled her dreams.

"_I wish we could be together again, but it's just too impossible…I just wanted to say goodbye…I have to go now…I'm sorry if I left you…This is my destiny, and I know we're not for each other…But I'll always…love you, like I always did…Move on…Try to open your heart again…He's there, waiting for you…Love him like you how you loved me…Don't cry. I cant comfort you…"_

"Riko." she whispered, her eyes watering, and he didn't fail to hear what she said.

He looked down, slightly hurt.

"So, it's still him huh?" he asked mockingly, but it was evident in his voice that he was hurt. By what he said, she turned to look at him. Tears filled her eyes, but she wiped them off quick.

"You still love him, don't you?" he asked again with a shaky voice, trying to hold his emotions back.

"You cant blame me if I still love him. I cant just forget about him that easy." she tried to explain.

"4 years, Hotaru! Cant just move on and try to forget him?! Let him go!" he exclaimed. He cant take it any further, and so he burst out. He grabbed her shoulders and tried to make her look at him.

"Hotaru, please, you'll just get tired of holding onto him. You keep on waiting, but it's not worth." he said calmly, and she started sobbing. She lowered her head and covered her face with her hands. He then slightly touched the back of her head, and pushed it by his palm, letting her forehead lean onto him.

"Cry. Let it out." he whispered. She cried, just like what he said. Warm arms started to snake around her and somehow, she felt safe just being with him. And she liked it.

"I…I'm sorry, _Ru-kun_." he heard her say. Ru-kun? Did she just called him Ru-kun?! As far as he could remember, she never called him Ru-kun again since he did that tremendous thing to her. She started detesting him after that, hating his guts, and she lost trust in him. But, calling him Ru-kun, does that mean that she had forgiven him? Of course, he wanted that to happen. For now, he wanted her to forgive him, and that's the only thing he couls ask for. Nothing more, nothing less.

A smile made its way to his lips, and he felt his heart jumped with joy.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"Alright class, I have an announcement to make." the gay teacher said, trying to catch the attention of his students. He tried everything he could, but his students were just too stubborn.

"We have new classmates." he said again, and this time, his students stopped their business and listened to him, except for a certain brunette, a raven haired guy, and poker-faced girl.

"You can come in now." Mr. Narumi said as he motioned for the new student to come inside. Then, 2 girls with sophisticated looks came inside.

"Yo." she greeted cheerfully, making other boys struck and stare at her with awe.

"Please introduce yourselves." the teacher said.

"Hi. I'm Koizumi Luna. Pleased to meet you all." the first girl said with a bitchy smile.

"Tch. Old hag." Natsume muttered under his breath.

"Hi. I'm RiYuki Sakura. Mikan's nee-chan. But you can call me Yuki for short." the last girl said and gasp could he heard all over the room. Yuki was a bit tall, had auburn eyes, petite but perfect curves, long auburn hair that reached her waist and had cute curls, and fair good-looking skin. Surely, Yuki was more sophisticated and gorgeous than Mikan. That's what their classmates thought when they compared Mikan to Yuki.

Mikan, who wasn't paying attention, suddenly looked at the new students. Her eyebrows twitched when she saw the two girls.

"_Who's that girl? And why does she look familiar? Ugh. I hate her smile."_ she asked. She turned to look at the other girl and her eyes widen in shock.

"Yuki-nee?!" she exclaimed, obviously shocked when she saw her.

"_Why is she here?" _Hotaru asked herself

"Baka." she whispered, watching Mikan's reaction.

"Mikan-chan, you looked like you have seen a ghost or something." she smiled.

"What's she doing here?" she whispered.

She turned to look at the guy beside her and when their eyes met, he rolled his eyes, looking away.

"_Don't mind him, Mikan. He's Yuki-nee's first love and you know he feels the same way. Ignore him." _

She looked again at her sister and she smiled nervously.

"Now, who wants to be paired up with them?" the gay teacher asked and mostly, the boys raised their hands. Luna was paired up with a random guy and as for Yuki,

"Sensei, could I sit beside Natsume?" she whispered to Narumi, but Mikan didn't actually saw her sister doing that.

"Natsume-kun, is it okay with you if Yuki will be your partner?" the teacher asked, which caught Mikan's attention.

She looked at her sister, to Narumi then to Natsume, waiting for his answer.

_"Please, say no." _

"Sure, sensei." was his answer and Mikan was affected. She really wanted him to answer no, but luck wasnt on her side. She didn't say anything further. Instead, she stood up went to an empty place, which was at the corner. She didn't notice Yuki, her own nee-chan smiling evilly, as she went to sit beside Natsume.

"Hi, Natsu-kun." she smiled at him and he did too, and planted a peck on his cheek.

"Hn." was his reply. Mikan saw what her sister did, though she admit that she was jealous. She cant stand to watch them doing that, so she didn't look at them, getting hurt in a minute. Hell. Why did she have to feel that way?! Why did she have to get jealous?! Why?! She had no right to get jealous since Natsume likes Yuki, or so she thought. She has a right to get jealous, she's Natsume's fiancée and not Yuki. But she believes Natsume likes Yuki, so she had no right. That doesnt make sense at all.

"_Gomene. I'm just taking back what's mine and he's not yours. He's mine, Mikan. He's mine."_ she smirked, as she tried to look at her at the corner of her eyes.

**To be continued**

**Woohoo!! Another twist!! It's long, right?? Hey, what do you think about Yuki?? Evil i know, and i could feel that you're all starting to hate her!! hehe...So if you have comments, suggestions, reactions, questions, criticisms, and point of views about this chapter, feel free to tell me by leaving a review!! You're free to criticize my work, but FLAMES are entirely unacceptable!! Got it?? So what do you say?? Drop a review before leaving this site!! Arigato in advance!! :D**


	12. Mystery12

**Here's another chappie!! I'm alive, guys!! I'm alive!! I can't believe it, I was reincarnated!! Hahaha!! LOL!! Just Kidding!! Well, I guess, it didn't take me that mcuh long to update, ne?? **

**Last May, I told you guys that I'll publish the story "A Stupid Date with my Stupid Idol". **

**Gomene, if I wasn't able to publish it last last month, last month, or this month. I was sooooo busy thinking of what will happen next for this story, and as a result, I didn't have a chance to publish it. :)**

**Anyway,**** enough for apologies and sort of things. I would like, of course, to thank all the reviewers, namely: **

**Cazzy Love**

**FHKJ**

**Nuyun**

**Zairil20**

**Mini pink boe**

**xXBlackTenshiXx**

**Crzy Chibi**

**Jen**

**Maeve zahra**

**manga-girl-freak**

**Yanani Namanamashii**

**lovepikachu12**

**HarunoNiwa073**

**Hanisakura**

**kazukarin**

**Btrflyies**

**Surely, that was a lot, and I really appreciate them!! Thank you so much!! Let's get on with the story, ne?? Read, understand, enjoy, and of course, review!!**

**Disclaimer: I own Gakuen!! Really, I do own it!! It's not that bad to daydream, right?? Hehe...I don't own Gakuen Alice, and I mean it now!!**

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Chapter 12: "True Colors"

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-Somewhere-

"Madam Leira, Yuki went back to Japan!!" an exhausted voice of a young man was heard.

"What?!" The old woman exclaimed, twitching her eyebrows.

"I just found out this morning, and she left this letter,"the young man explained as he handed the letter to his grandmother. The old lady took the letter from him and begain reading it.

_**"Forgive me grandpa,grandma, and nii-san...**_

_**I really miss my parents and Mikan-chan...**_

_**I'm sorry for running away, I just want to see them again..."**_

The old lady heaved a heavy sigh, as she crumpled the paper in her hands.

"Where's your grandfather?" she asked him.

"I overheard him talking with _Ayaka-sama_ and _Kyomori-sama_." he answered promptly.

The old lady looked outside the window, she had a strong feeling that Yuki only went back to Japan for one reason: **Hyuuga Natsume**.

"Madam Leira?" the guy called out with softness in his voice, seeing unusual actions of the old woman. She then turned to look at him seriously.

"Why are you calling me madam and not grandma like what Yuki does? She's your sister after all, and you're her nii-san?" she asked him out of the blue, making him flabbergasted. She was , normal children would call their grandparents grandpa or grandma. But he didn't. He never did. Why?

"Since before, you never told me how should I address you madam. And I believe, that I am not a part of this family." he answered.

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked again.

"You never let me feel how it's like to live with your own parents, and you never let me feel how it's like to have grandparents. At this time, you treated me like I'm one of your servants and do everything you wanted me to do. I know that you are my real grandmother, but I can't feel it. So what's the use of calling you grandma? I shouldn't be calling you "grandma". since I'm just like a servant here. Now. what do you want me to do, Madam?" he explained scornfully.

What he told her, made the old lady taken aback. She never expected her own grandson to feel that way. Maybe she had overdone things, which included him. What was wrong on protecting her grandchildren from the curse? What was wrong in preventing the curse for the good of all mankind? What went wrong?

She didn't know how to answer him, and she knew he had been enduring it for a long time.

Just when she was about to speak, the door opened and revealed Zyon. The young man bowed at him.

"Leira, what happened?" the old man asked his dear wife.

"Yuki went back to Japan. And I'm afraid that something big will happen." the old lady said.

"_Tsubasa_, you need to go back to your parents." Zyon said, massaging his temples.

"Yes, sir." he said and walked out of the room.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Alice Academy-

"Mikan-chan" Yuki called out. The bell just recently rang, indicating that it's dismissal time. Mikan was peacefully walking down the hallway, when she heard a certain someone called her. She looked back and wore a fake smile, when she saw her sister.

"What is it, Yuki-nee?" she asked. Honestly, she didn't want to see her right now. Not that she hated her at all, but because she can't withstand the thought of her own sister, being on good terms with her own fiancé. (Who wouldn't?)

"Nothing much really. Where are you heading?" Yuki asked. She was still her sister after all, so she can't avoid of getting worried for Mikan (As if!!)

"Uhm...To Natsu-...I-I mean, to Hyuuga-kun's house. Okaa-san told you everything, right? About me...being engaged with...him?" she with a low voice and a meek smile.

"Yeah, mom told me everything." Yuki said, emphasizing the last word, which literally, caught Mikan's attention.

"But don't worry, Mikan. Past is past, and I've moved on." Yuki added and sighed. She felt relieved, and also, she felt like something was wrong. Mikan was silenced and she didn't know what to say next. This is Yuki, her elder sister. They used to be so close and share each other's secrets. But when she came back, she can't feel the closeness they once shared. It was liked she was still far away, even though they were so close.

"Yuki-nee..." she trailed off as she lowered her head.

"Yes, Mikan?" she asked.

"A-are you sure?" Mikan asked

"Sure about what?"

"That you're totally over him?"

"Of course I am. But sometimes, I can't stop wondering, what if I **never** left this place? Then, maybe I'll **still** be on his side. Maybe, he won't be marrying **someone** else. But what can I do? We can't turn back the time and change everything, right? Still there's something inside me that still lingers."

Mikan looked at her with a quizzical look. She knew that her sister meant something by saying those words. Yuki noticed her sister's reaction, she smirked inside but she didn't show it.

"What do you mean, Yuki-nee?" Mikan asked.

"Mikan-chan, you know me very well, right?" Yuki started as Mikan just stared at her, waiting for whatever she's going to say next.

"You know that once I **lose** something important, I will always find a way to **get** it back. You know that I never failed on doing those," Yuki said menacingly.

"And you very well know, that I'm a selfish person. I always get what I want. And to tell you the truth, Natsume is not an exception to my wants." she continued, stabbing Mikan with every painful words she said. Mikan's lip parted, she wanted to say something but nothing came out. Yuki smirked, she knew this would happen.

"What is it, Mikan-chan? Can't say a word?" she asked mockingly.

"I...You..." Mikan uttered. She really wanted to say so many things, but didn't know where to start.

"What?" Yuki said mockingly.

"You said that you're over him?" she asked again. She was really confused right now.

"I did say that. But I never said that I won't take him back." she smiled evilly. Mikan scoffed at her, totally bewildered by what was really happening.

"Is that really you, Yuki-nee? I feel like I don't know you at all." Mikan blurted out. She really wasn't expecting that her own sister turned out to be like this, only because of one guy. Her hands turned to fists, clenching them.

"This is the REAL me, Mikan. If it weren't for you, a thief like you, we wouldn't be like this!" Yuki exclaimed.

"Yuki-nee, what happened to you?" she asked, she can't believe that she would act so unreasonable.

"Nothing happened and I'm perfectly fine." she smiled a fake one. This isn't Yuki. This isn't the Yuki-nee she used to know. She changed, and it was because of Natsume.

"Yuki-nee..." she whispered. Why did things turn out like this?! These aren't what she wanted.

She lowered her head, tears welled up in hazel orbs. She can't look straight at her sister.

She just can't.

No.

Not now.

"Just cry, you cry-baby. I know you're good at that, and that's only what you got. Just cry, 'cause starting today, I won't be there to comfort you. And I will never give a damn on whatever you do. Oh, and by the way, there's a party tonight. Don't miss it, **Dear sister**." words from her own sister. She looked back, watching Yuki's retreating figure.

_"She's definitely not Yuki-nee..." _she thought, as her left hand turned into a fist.

"What happened to you?" a familiar voice asked. Mikan quickly wiped her tears off, wore one of her warm smile, and looked at whoever who owns the cold voice. But to her dismay, the person she saw was the person she didn't want to see. Her smile turned upside down. They stared at each other's eyes, crimson **met** hazel.

"You cried?" he asked again, seeing her eyes red and puffy but didn't receive an answer from her the second time. She remained silent as she looked away form his gaze. His eyebrows twitched.

"Idiot, I'm asking you! Why don't you answer me?!" he exclaimed in annoyance.

She looked at him again, her warm smile was replaced by a mock.

"What's the catch, **Hyuuga**?"

Hyuuga?

Did she just call him Hyuuga?

Why?

"Pretending to be concerned?! (-scoff-) Wow! I'm impressed! You'd better be an actor and win an award for being the best. 'Cause you know what, you pass the audition." she said with disgust and turned back, preparing to leave. But she was stopped when a hand grabbed her wrist and made her face him. He was taken aback when she saw her crying.

"Tell me, what happened!" he commanded. He was about to wipe her wet face, but she shoved off his hand.

"I don't need to tell you everything. You said it yourself, I'm just your stupid fiancée, who doesn't mean anything to you, right? So what's the use of relying to someone like you?! If I don't mean anything to you, then just leave me be." she said and left a Natsume, dumbfounded. He leaned his back on the cold wall as he brushed his raven locks by his knuckles. He sighed an exasperated one.

_"Her words,...why did they stabbed me? And why did she called me Hyuuga?" _he asked himself, but found no answer to his own question.

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After the 'not so good' conversation with Yuki and Natsume, Mikan walked and walked, until she reached a playground. No Children were playing at that time, so she sat on a swing.

It was dusk, which suited what she feels right now, gloomy. Right now, she wanted to be alone. She didn't want to remember what happened a while ago, although, she can't help but think about that. She heaved a heavy yet exhausted sigh. She wanted to cry, but it can't solve any of her problems. She wanted to put everything back to normal, but she didn't know how to. When will things get easier and lighter for her?

"Yuki-nee…Natsume..." she whispered, as cool breeze soothed her, and she closed her eyes.

This time, it was only the breeze that could comfort her. The breeze that had witnessed her agony. The breeze that made her forget her problems, even just for a while. Somehow, she was relieved. Even if it was only the breeze that had seen her pain.

"Daijubou(is this the correct spelling)?" a manly voice asked which stopped her from her reverie. She looked back to look at the person. But before she could even take a glance at that person, everything was pitch black. And before she knew it, she passed out.

**-TBC-**

**Whoah!! ****It's quite short!! Now, who do you think the guy is?! **

**Like I said before, if you have comments, suggestions, questions, reactions, criticisms and point of views, just leave a review by clicking the 'review' box!! **

**Or if not, check my profile if you want to PM me on my yahoo account!! **

**You could criticize my work, but FLAMES are not accepted!! **

**There are times I would accept FLAMES, but mostly, no!! So just Drop a review!! That's all!! Ja!! :D**


	13. Mystery13

**Good news, guys!! Our classes was suspended for 10 days, so I took the privilege to update!! Another chappie here!! Read, understand, enjoy and review!! I know that this story is quite confusing and gomene. And also, I know that you're all starting, or maybe you actually detest Yuki in here. Well, forgive me if I have to do some 'complicated things' on Mikan and Natsume, like Natsume falling for Yuki again, or maybe not. Part of the story like we always say. But please continue on reading this and don't stop on reviewing!! **

**To: **

**NekoTama-chan ~ **Thanks for the review!! Honestly, I don't even have an idea why I decided to put Yuki in same class with Mikan. And your question did made sense. Maybe because I find it interesting, but it's a part of the twist too, don't you think?? Sorry for confusing you about the 'grandparents past thingy'. Let's just say that the history of Mikan's grandparents are happening to her. Well, that slightly gave you a clue onto the story.

**Curious & anonymous ~ **Thanks for the review!! I know you're confused right now as to why in chapter 2, Yuka said that Mikan is their ONE and ONLY daughter. Well, just wait for the next chapters and I'll leave you wondering by this question: (just scroll down and read author's notes again. The question will really get you wondering :P)

**DoLL18 ~ **Wow!! Wow!! thanks for the review, even if it was mostly questions!! But I appreciated it and loved it!! Thank you so much for liking this fic and for saying I'm one of your favorite authors!! That was just so touching, and I'm not lying!! Thank you!!

**Nuyun **~ hehehe…thanks for the review and for loving my story :D!!! don't worry, I'm sure this chapter is quite long enough. Oh yeah, thanks for those encouraging and touching words. It really did help me a lot on writing this chapter!! Thanks so much!!! J

**.xXx ~ **wow!! Thank you so much!! Your review made me overwhelmed, and im not lying!! Thank you !!

**zairil20 ~ **you're probably right, but there's nothing we can do. It's what he did, right? What's done is done. Salamat sa review!!

**Chocoholic ~ **hehehe…don't worry, in the next chapters, you'll know the reason why Yuki died as to Natsume's belief. I may not say it right now, but please wait. Thanks for the review!!

**Maeve_Zahra ~ **hehehe…just wait, I will soon get rid of her!! Thanks for the review!!

**maxeyn ~ **hehe..sorry if ever this story made your heart ache (big grin :D) anyway, thanks for the review!!

**chrisca123456789**

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**jkl**

**Crystal Chime13-94**

**AniE AddiCtz**

**My Catholic Romance**

**Hanisakura**

**HarunaNiwa073**

**CrzyChibi**

**lovepikachu12**

**kazukarin**

**iamtherealmikan**

**nt'kit**

**starisice**

**celinaaa**

**CourtneyJo**

**GakuenAliceGirl**

**Tear Droplet**

**Thank you so much guys!!**

_**RECAP:**_

_"Just cry, you cry-baby. I know you're good at that, and that's only what you got. Just cry, 'cause starting today, I won't be there to comfort you. And I will never give a damn on whatever you do. Oh, and by the way, there's a party tonight. Don't miss it, __**Dear sister**__." _

_"What happened to you?" _

_"You cried?" _

_"What's the catch, __**Hyuuga**__?"_

"_Pretending to be concerned?! (-scoff-) Wow! I'm impressed! You'd better be an actor and win an award for being the best. 'Cause you know what, you pass the audition." _

_"Daijubou?" a manly voice asked which stopped her from her reverie. She looked back to look at the person. But before she could even take a glance at that person, everything was pitch black. And before she knew it, she passed out._

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Chapter 13: "My Saviour"

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"Daijobou?" a manly voice asked which stopped her from her reverie. She looked back to look at the person. But before she could even take a glance at that person, everything was pitch black. And before she knew it, she passed out.

Luckily, the guy had caught her in time before landing on the cold ground.

"Miss!! Miss!!" he tried to wake her up, but failed.

"**Toshiiro**, what are you doing?! Trying to escape on your mission, eh?" another random voice spoke, but he fell silent when he saw Toshiiro with an unconscious brunette in his arms.

"Toshiiro, who's that?" he added as he looked at him with venom.

"I just happened to pass by when I saw her, and she just suddenly passed out." Toshiiro said, looking at the unconscious girl intently.

"What shall we do with her?" Toshiiro asked.

"This is your problem, why are you including me? You should handle this by yourself." the other guy answered cynically.

"What about the party? Aren't we supposed to take **her** back tonight? I'm all dressed up."

"I could see that. Well, try to wake her up then. Any minute, the party shall start. We can't let that girl join us or something. And you know, we can't afford to be late."

"But I can't also leave her here alone and unconscious."

"You don't get my point. I'm ordering you to wake her up so that we could get out of this place and proceed to the party!" the guy said, annoyed, and he walked out of the scene, hopping inside on a white limo.

"Fine." he muttered under his breath.

"Miss…Miss…" he tried to wake her up but failed. Toshiiro placed his palm on her forehead and find it…hot!

"Oh my God, she's burning!" Toshiiro almost yelled, panic shot through him. He hurriedly placed his other arm under her legs and carried her bridal style with no difficulty. His steps were faster than usual as he carried her and made his way through the limo. The guy he talked to went out again and he wondered why he was carrying her. He gave him a questioning look.

"I can't afford to leave her alone burning with fever." Toshiiro reasoned out. The guy looked at him sternly and also Mikan.

"Whatever. But she's not my priority." the guy said as he went inside the car and motioned Toshiiro to hop in too with the unconscious brunette.

It has been 30 minutes of driving but Mikan was still unconscious. She was lying down, with her head on Toshiiro's lap.

"What are you planning to do with her? Keep her in? You know very well that you **can't **keep someone in." the guy said, trying to open up a conversation.

"I know. I'll just wait until she wakes up."

"And if she doesn't?" the guy said again, leaving Toshiiro speechless.

"Leave it to fate." he almost whispered, looking intently at the unconscious girl on his lap.

Suddenly, a thing around Mikan's neck caught his attention. It was the **locket** that also caught Natsume's attention once, or twice.

"_Where have I seen this thing?" _he asked himself as he tried to touch it. As he was about to hold the locket, the limo came to an abrupt stop, causing him to inch forward and almost drop Mikan, but luckily, he had protected her in no time.

"I guess we have arrived." the guys said as he stepped out of the car.

"Hmm…" he heard a soft mumble and his attention diverted to Mikan.

"Miss, are you okay?" he asked, seeing her eyes half-open.

"mmm…." she continued.

"Miss, wake up." he continued as he slightly tried to pat gently her cheeks.

Mikan's eyes faltered open and she sat up, placing the palm of her hands on her forehead.

"Where…am I?" she asked, enough for him to hear, but not looking at him.

"I happened to pass by at a playground where I saw you, and you suddenly passed out." Toshiiro explained.

"Are you feeling okay right now? You have a fever." he asked as he tried to touch her forehead, but she moved away.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Uhm…Sorry if I ever, uhm, wasted your time." Mikan said politely as she turned to look at him. And somehow, she was lost in words when she looked at him. Well, he had those greenish orbs and coffee brown locks, and maybe, he was the same age as her. He had those broad shoulders and she can say that he had those strong muscles fit for a guy. He was surely outstanding for his gorgeous looks, captivating every girls and making them speechless.

But then, she snapped out from her reverie and thought that it isn't the time to think of those.

"Uhm…I guess I better get going."

"Are you sure you can manage?" he asked with concern.

"Of course. Thank you, sir." she said as she motioned to hop out of the car, but was stopped when he said something and she looked back.

"It's Toshiiro. Toshiiro Mitarashi. Just call me Toshiiro." he said as he smiled, and she smiled back.

"Mikan. Mikan Sakura. Thanks again, _Toshiiro_." she said and finally went out of the car.

"_Nice meeting you Mikan Sakura, hope we meet again." _

The guy went back to the car and, "False alarm, this isn't the place." he said and the car started moving again. He also noticed that Mikan was gone.

"Wow! Where's the girl?" he mocked.

"Just shut up, _Persona._" Toshiiro hissed.

"Why should I? And why did you let her go that fast?" Persona inquired.

"Who? Mikan?"

"Who else? Wait, looks like you've been too close. Calling her by her first name, eh? Well, whoever she is. If I were you I wouldn't let her go easily." he said as he leaned back and lit a cigarette. This made Toshiiro ponder. From what he said, it is impossible that he had no meaning or what.

"Why? What do you mean?" Toshiro asked and gave him a quizzical look.

"Didn't you notice? She looks a **lot** like **her**. She was also wearing the _locket_." Persona explained and he smirked when he saw Toshiiro more confused.

"If you think you're the only who recognized the _locket_, well, you're wrong. I saw it with my two eyes too, you know." he continued.

"I still don't get it. What about the _locket_?" Toshiiro asked again.

"I know you're a trustworthy guy, so don't go telling this to anyone."

"Whatever."

"Well, I heard from Madam _Mejadi_ that she needs the _locket_."

"You haven't told me any of this."

"And I'm here telling you everything."

"Why does she needs it?"

"I don't know, maybe…revenge! Her eyes are filled with rage and sorrow. And sometimes, I could here her mouthing words, like, 'your time has come' or 'I won't stop until you all die.'"

This made Toshiiro more speechless. He can't utter anything, not even a single word and Persona wasn't dumb to notice. Toshiiro knew Madam _Mejadi _as a kind and lovely old woman. How could she say something like those words? He can't imagine. Maybe Persona was just making a fool out of him. But what if he said earlier was true?

"Oi! Tell me, are you thinking about **that** girl?" Persona asked, catching Toshiiro's full attention.

"Who?" he asked, playing dumb.

"The girl named **Mikan **you say." he teased.

"What are you saying?" Toshiiro said as he looked out through the car window beside him, hiding the blush creeping on his cheeks.

"Don't try to deny, I know you're thinking about her. But let me give you some piece of advice. _**Never**_ fall for her." Persona said and Toshiiro glared at him, annoyed.

"If you're going to ask me why, here's the answer. It's very simple. She has the locket, and we don't even know if she's the _**one**_ we're after." he continued.

"You're unreasonable." Toshiiro hissed.

"For now, yes, it's unreasonable. But someday, you will understand. Just think about it. Think about the last time you fell. Think about what happened to _**her**_…" Persona blurted, hitting Toshiiro with every words that came from him.

**FLASHBACK**

_7 years ago, in Hokkaido, Toshiiro visited his one and only friend in a hospital. She looked pitiful lying on the hospital bed. He approached her and sat on a chair near __**Riki**__._

"_Hey." he said calmly. There was a lump on his throat, fighting back his tears. He didn't want __**Riki**__ to see him crying._

"_Hi, Toshiiro." Riki said weakly and managed to give him a smile. _

_Toshiiro then touched her head, caressing it. The next thing he did, was he kissed her forehead which has a bandage._

"_What happened?" he asked, concern evident in his voice._

"_I…can't remember…exactly. All I could remember was, I crossed the street. Then a lady was calling my name. when I looked back at her, I saw her crossing the street too, but there was a car approaching her. The next thing I knew, I ran and pushed her, and the car hit me. I don't know if that's what really had happened or maybe it was just a dream." she explained._

_Toshiiro took her hand and kissed it. He looked down and suddenly, a tear rolled down from his eye._

"_Are you crying?" Riki asked, which was almost a whisper._

"_No. No, I'm not." he lied._

"_Liar. I'm fine. I __**will**__ be fine. So, don't worry." she said._

_-The Next Day-_

_Toshiiro planned on visiting her again. Unexpectedly, when he reached Riki's room, she wasn't there anymore. He only saw a nurse fixing the hospital bed._

"_Where is she?" he thought. How could she just disappear without him knowing?_

"_Uhm, excuse me. But, where's Riki Hikowaka?" he asked._

"_Riki Hikowaka? I'm sorry kid, but there's no patient here with that name." said the nurse._

"_No? But she was in this room yesterday." he reasoned out. He just can't believe what the nurse had said. It was just impossible. Maybe the nurse was only new, or maybe, she just had misinformed him with a false name._

"_Oh! That girl?!" the nurse exclaimed._

"_Her name isn't Riki Hikowaka, dear. Maybe you mean __**Riyuki Sakura.**__" the nurse continued._

"_Oh, yeah. She's the one I'm looking for. Sorry, my bad. Um, where is she?" he asked again._

"_Well, her grandparents took her home last night. They will bring her abroad and she will continue her medications there." the nurse explained._

"_Abroad? That's impossible. That's absurd." he said to himself._

"_Gotta go, kid. I still need some work to do." the nurse added as she left the room, leaving Toshiiro dumbfounded. And with that day onwards, he never heard a single information about her. _

**END OF FLASHBACK**

"_Riyuki Sakura and Mikan Sakura…"_

"We're here." Persona said, which made him snapped back in reality.

"Remember, stick on with the mission. We _**need**_ to take _**her**_ back." Persona added before they left the limousine.

"_How could I be so dumb to notice? They really look exactly the same."_

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After the short conversation Mikan had with her 'new friend' Toshiiro, she was wondering why she hurriedly left the car. She knows that he would help her get back home because she had a slight fever, but she refused. Why?

She didn't even know why on earth she had a jittery feeling when she was too close to him, even she only met him few hours ago. Right now, her mind was occupied by the guy who helped her at the playground.

Then suddenly, another image of a guy went inside her mind. She clenched her hands which turned into a fists. She was furious, yes, and it was because of him. Hyuuga Natsume. If it wasn't for him, maybe the bond between her and Yuki won't change. If she wasn't betrothed to him, maybe things like before would still be the same. If she hadn't met him, maybe she won't be this miserable. Maybe she will remain as the bubbly, friendly, kinda idiotic, and full of happiness. She won't bother to solve any problems because she only had to put a smile on her face, and everything will turn out fine. But right now, how could she even afford to smile if she's facing the biggest problem of her life? Truly said, she loves her sister, she loves her family, she loves her friends, but what about Natsume? Does she **love** him too?

"_Dug-dug…dug-dug…dug-dug…"_ she felt her heart thump faster and she placed her right hand there.

"_Maybe…I'm in love with him, I just don't want to admit it." _she thought sadly.

"_But how could I love you, if my sister loves you too?" _

Now that's the worst of all problems she'd ever had. She needs to sacrifice just for the happiness of the other. She was willing to sacrifice everything just to make her loved ones happy.

But what about her? Don't she even deserve just a little bit of happiness?

She loves them both, more than her life itself, but who would she choose? Her sister, or her fiancé?

Right now, all that she could do was to walk, walk home. She looked up at the dark sky filled with stars and she looked at the bright full moon.

That's when she realized she was walking in a dark place which there were no light posts, no houses nor persons, not even a single car passing by the streets. It was really strange and it freaked her out.

"_What if it happens again?"_ she thought nervously. Recalling what had happened _**before**_, she can't help but to get scared. She started hating dark places because of **that** incident which almost cost……her own life.

**FLASHBACK**

_It was already 9:30 in the night when Mikan finished doing school errands and she was completely alone. She went out of the school building and decided to just walk home. At first, everything was fine. She got nothing to worry about since she's used to walking and she knows her way home. But then, she felt a little scared because she's alone, no one was with her. The streets were dark, light posts were losing its little light, and everyone were at their own homes, maybe sound asleep. _

"_What if ghosts appeared or perverts? What if I get kidnapped?" she thought desperately as she clasped her hands together. _

_She shrugged. Thinking of nonsense things won't help her. So she just prayed for her safety as she continued walking down on the street side._

_As she continuously walked, she saw a group of men, drinking and smoking endlessly across the road. There were four of them and they all looked like drug addicts or a prisoner who recently got out of the prison cell. She gulped._

"_Wrong route." she whispered as she tried to ignore them and continue walking, but this time, a little faster. But then, she heard one of them whistled like a wolf. She tried to ignore them again, she needed to get out of there alive. But ignoring them didn't solve it. Instead, she heard footsteps following behind her. She knew it was them. Her pace became faster and faster, until she just tried to run away. _

_Suddenly, the two guys blocked her way. And when she turned back, there were two guys again, blocking her way. _

"_Hi there, __**Sakura**__." one of the guys said._

"_H-How did you know m-my--" Mikan uttered, but decided not to continue._

"_What do you suppose we should do with her?" _

"_**She **__told us we should dispose her."_

"_That quick? Oh c'mon, let's play with her first." _

"_Hey, hey, hey, hey! And where do you think you're going, huh?" the guy said who had caught her as he hold her tightly, not letting her escape. That was supposed to be her chance to escape, but she was caught easily._

"_P-Please…L-let me go…" she pleaded as tears started to form on her eyes._

"_We're truly sorry, dear. Just this is our job, to __**kill**__ you later. Right now, we will have fun first, ne?" he said as he tried to kiss her on her neck, but she struggled. Mikan bit the guy's hand, which was over her neck. The guy released her because of the bit and Mikan tried to run away._

"_What are you three doing?! Catch her!!" he ordered, and three obliged. Although they have successfully caught Mikan, she was still trying to let go and protect herself, while crying. The 'leader' pushed Mikan at the wall and he grasped her chin. _

"_You wouldn't want to mess with me, little girl." he said as he slapped her. He pushed her again, but this time, he pushed her down at the cold ground. He forced her to lay down and sat on top of her._

"_I-Iyeh!! Let go!!" she cried non-stop, as hot tears were flowing down her cheeks. She even tried to let go of the guy's tight grasp on both her wrists, but she failed. He was obviously stronger than her._

"_You two, hold her feet. And you, hold her wrists. Tightly!!" she heard him ordering. _

_Then, the guys began to kiss her neck and jaw line. _

"_NO!! Let me go!!" she screamed._

_She even felt the guy to start unbuttoning her blouse and touching every part of her._

"_Hentai!! Let go of me!!" she continued to scream and she closed her eyes._

"_Oi! What do you think you're doing?" a random voice asked, which stopped the perverts from doing what they were doing._

"_None of your business, kid." one of them hissed._

"_Really? But I've got a business with you." the teenage guy hissed back and he kicked one guy straight on the face, leaving him knocked out. The other three stood up, ready to fight back. _

"_Don't go easy on us, douche-boy." _

"_If I look like a douche, then what are you? Jackass?" he mocked and began to fight one of them. With just 2 knee-kicks on both stomach, one of his opponent was knock-out. So he had to deal with two guys again. He started punching another guy, endlessly, then knocked-out again._

"_What can you say? Aren't you impressed with my skills? You're the only one left!" he said with full confidence, mocking the irritated pervert. The perverted guy tried to kick him, but he had caught his leg and he twisted it, making him wince in pain. _

"_Tell me, who told you to do this?" the teenage guy whispered with venom at the pervert._

"_I…I can't tell you…" he reasoned out as he was still wincing in pain._

"_No?" he mocked again as he twist harder on the leg._

"_Arghh.."_

"_Now, are you going to tell me?" _

"_I…I will, I will…" _

"_Good. Who was it? Who's your boss?"_

"_Me-Mejadi…__**Mejadi Itukimi**__…" and he finally let go. The man who saved Mikan glared at the other guy and he ran away._

_As for Mikan, she sat up and tried to fix herself. When she looked at what was happening, she was just shocked to see the four guys unconscious. She then turned to look at the guys who saved her, her eyes widen in shock, and she cried again._

"_Tsubasa-nii…" she cried and throw her arms around him, and he hugged her back._

"_It's okay now, Mikan…You're safe." Tsubasa whispered a he rubbed the back of his sister._

_-The Next Day-_

_*For the breaking news: This morning, in Hikawa, residents accidentally found four dead bodies floating by the river. _

"_Last night, maybe 11 pm, I was waken up by a scream. Then the scream just disappear a little while later. I was about to go back in bed, when I heard loud sounds again, which I believed was a sound of a gun." a resident said._

"_Until now, it still remains a mystery. Polices now are trying to investigate what really had happened or whoever did this……*_

**END OF FLASHBACK**

As far as she could remember, it was Tsubasa, her brother, who had saved her. But right now, who could save her in this dark and creepy place? What if perverts sneak out and try to kill her again?

"Calm down, calm down. Thinking of those won't help." she whispered to herself.

Unfortunately, she heard a snap of a twig, and it freaked her out. She was really panicking inside, but she was still managing to remain calm.

"They're just animals. Just animals. Cute little animals." she whispered again, which was louder than the previous whisper. If ever she hears another sound, she'll surely burst in tears. She continued walking, her pace faster than usual. Luck isn't really on her side, when she heard a dog's howl.

"It's just a dog, for God's sake! It's just a dog!" she said aloud as she looked around to check whether there really was a dog. Right now, she really can't tell if it was only her imagination or if it was real.

"Now, where's that dog?! Oh, stupid! It was just an imagination! What if there's a witch?! Jeez, I shouldn't have left the car." she said to herself, regretting what she did earlier.

"Mommy!!" she cried like a 3 year old kid.

Fortunately, she heard a screeching car, which stopped right in front of her.

"Where have I seen this car before?" she asked herself, as she slightly covered her eyes, due to the blinding light of the car. She watched, until the driver hop out of the car.

"Get in." a familiar voice said. She looked at the owner of the voice, who was wearing formal clothes. And to her surprise, the owner of the voice was the guy she wasn't really expecting to see.

"N-Natsume…" Mikan whispered.

"Baka! I told you to get in!" he said again. Without having any second thoughts, she hurriedly ran and throw her arms around him. In short, she hugged him. Natsume was shocked by her recent actions. A while ago, she didn't want to see him, nor talk to him. But this time, she hugged him.

"You came…" he heard Mikan say.

Just then, without even him knowing, his arms snaked around her, hugging her back.

"Don't worry, I'm here…" he said as he kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, comforting her.

**to be continued**

**Just to inform you guys, please read the newly published '_The Sassy Girl with The Hunky Nerd_****'. Please support that story like you've supported 'Her mysteries'.**

**To ****Curious & anonymous****, here's the question I have for you. Who is Yuki really? Is she also one of the real daughter(s) of Yuka and Wrel? Why did she had to go back and get Natsume from Mikan? And what is her real purpose on doing those things? Is it only her LOVE for Natsume or is it more than that? **

**Just questions left unanswered for you in which only the author knows the answer. Hehehe…:D**

**I guess this question was also for the readers and reviewers, and also a hint onto the twists I've made!! And I say, another twist had been made!! So drop a review before leaving this site. Tell me all of your comments, suggestions, questions, reactions, criticisms, and points of views or whatever by leaving a review. How about a long review for a long chapter?? Or more reviews for a long chapter??? Hehehe…kiddin'!! Love lots!! Ja!!**

_**Exclusive Sneak Peaks: **_

"_Who's that guy?" Natsume snared, looking at her with an intense glare._

"_What do you mean? Can't I hang out with a friend?" she mocked._

"_Friend? You're being too close to him!! I don't want you going out with him again, or any other guys." he ordered._

"_What's with you ordering me around? I'm no kid! You've got nothing to do with me either."_

"_I'm you fiancé for God's sake."_

"_So what? Like it matters to you, or worse, even me."_

"_Well, it does. It does matter to me!!"_

"_What? Are kidding me? Why does it even have to mat--" she was cut off by warm lips that crashed into hers._

"_What was that for? And did you really have to do that just to shut me up?" _

"_I'm jealous as hell! So don't go hanging out with someone else, especially other guys! I'm forbidding you to do that!" _


	14. Mystery14

**It's been a while, isn't it minna?? I was having second thoughts if I should continue this fic or not. I was like frustrated because after the examinations, we had this what you call "review classes" for the college entrance exams. I was pressured! But then, I decided to continue this fic. I'm determined, not only in finishing this fic, but because I know you'll get 'angry' if I made this 'On Hiatus'. Hehehe… Of course, I would like to thank you all for reviewing and for those who greeted me a "happy birthday" last month. I may not be able to answer your questions right now but ARIGATO everyone. I just want you all to read the story directly and not author's notes again. But this is an author's note!! Anyway, here's the chapter you've all been waiting for!! Please review, ne??**

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**Chapter 14: "What HELL was that?!"**

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January 1, _ _ _ _; 3:13am

"_Waah-waah-waah!!" cried the new born baby. _

"_It's a girl." one of the doctors said as they placed the newborn safely on the bed, cut down it's umbilical cord and wrapped her small body with a clean cloth._

"_There's another one." declared the doctor._

"_Waah-waah-waah!!" cried the other newborn, and the lady who gave birth to them fell asleep, exhausted. _

_-At the hospital room-_

"_Where're the babies?" the lady asked her husband meekly. The man approached his wife and kissed her forehead. _

"_They're at the nursery room. Just lay down for a bit. I'll ask the nurse to bring them here. Don't worry, 'kay?" the guy said comfortingly at his wife. Unbeknownst to them, something big and terrible thing was happening. _

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"_My God." someone muttered under his breath and heaved a sigh._

"_Why? Did something happened with the operation?" a feminine voice asked._

"_It's just odd. This baby girl was fine and healthy when her mother gave birth to her. It was the other baby who had complications, but this healthy girl…" he trailed off._

"_What about this healthy baby you're saying? Is she not breathing properly?" asked the girl._

"_How could she breath properly when she isn't breathing at all? This girl's…dead." he declared._

"_Oh my. What about the other one?"_

"_She's fine right now. She had bruises, maybe because her blood type wasn't compatible with her mother. I better tell this to them."_

"_Wait. Don't."_

"_Why not? They own this child. They have the right to know."_

"_I know, but, don't you think it's better if we do not tell them yet? The mother might break down and it will lead to medical problems."_

"_Then, what will we do with this girl?"_

"_Give me to her. I have an idea." with no second thoughts, the guy handed the cold body of the baby to her._

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"_Madam, here's the baby." the girl said as she handed the dead baby to her._

"_So, this is the unfortunate granddaughter. Pfft. It really is based on the story." a wicked woman said as she smiled evilly, looking at the pitiful corpse baby._

"_I see, you're trustworthy enough, huh? Good job for a starter like you. Now, you have another mission. Copy the DNA of this baby, her looks, everything." she ordered. _

"_Madam, could I ask what's your purpose on doing this?"_

"_You'll know soon enough. After you've done what I told you to do, look for a person named '__**- - - - - -**__'."_

-At an 8-star hotel-

"Luna, you came!" Yuki squealed in delight and hugged her oh-so-dearest-best-friend**(I know, they suck!!)**. Yuki was wearing a dark blue tube balloon dress with a combination of a white belt. her hair was in ponytails and she was wearing a 6-inched high heels.

"Of course! I couldn't afford to miss the party of my best friend." Luna said and they giggled**(Speaking of bitches. Hahah).**

"You rock, girl." Luna added.

"I rock? Why?" Yuki asked, playing dumb.

"I saw what you did hours ago. You made that silly idiotic girl cry."

"Pfft. She's stupid. I mean, I totally hate everything about her. I guess you know my whole story." Yuki said with disgust as she took a sip from her glass.

"Yeah, you told me. She always gets everyone's attention. You know what, we're on the same boat. It's no wonder we really are friends." and they laughed their ass out.

Unbeknownst to them, a certain raven-haired girl heard everything. She was obviously annoyed at what she heard. She wasn't an ignorant and she knew that it was Mikan that they were talking about. Without any hesitation, she decided to approach them.

"Having fun?" she asked icily. Yuki and Luna turned to look at her and they eyed her from head to toe. Hotaru was wearing a simple yet stylish purple halter gown that reached above her knees. Simple, yet elegant.

"Oh. Hi Hotaru. It's been a while, huh?" Yuki smiled, acting friendly. Hotaru knew that it was fake.

"Yeah(she glared at Luna and rolled her eyes). It's been a while." she said with her ever-stoic face.

"Guess you didn't change at all. Same as before." Yuki commented.

"Maybe. But I prefer **NOT **to change…unlike **someone** I know." she said, hoping that it would hit Yuki. Premonitions on the way, Yuki was somehow **hit **by what Hotaru had said.

"Really? Do I know her?" Yuki asked, pretending that she didn't knew.

"It costs a million for telling you. And I guess you don't have to know **who the hell she is**. 'Coz I bet you know her. Thanks for the invitation, and welcome back." with that, Hotaru walked away.

"Wow!" Luna uttered and when she turned to look at Yuki, she noticed that her eyebrows were twitching and her hands turned to fists.

"The nerve!!" Yuki said through gritted teeth, terribly annoyed.

"Hey, hey. Calm down. Why don't we just go to the restroom and fixed ourselves? It's your party! You can't afford to ruin it just because of what she said." Luna blurted and they went inside the restroom.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"_You came…" Mikan said as she almost cried._

_Just then, she felt his arms snaked around her too, hugging her back._

"_Don't worry, I'm here…" he said as he kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, comforting her._

"_Jeez. What have I done just now?" _Mikan thought desperately.

That incident just kept on playing in her head and she can't help to stop. She was feeling jittery, since it has been a quite a while when she haven't rode in his car. She got used to walking every morning going to school. Although, Natsume and Natsume's parents didn't want her to do so, she still insisted. Right now, she was busy thinking about everything that had happened today.

Unexpectedly, she felt that a hand touched her forehead. She didn't know why but when he touched her, she felt 'electric bolts' passing through her and a tingly sensation.

"_What's happening to me?" _she asked herself.

"Oi. Are you okay? You seem to have a slight fever. And you're all red." she heard him say.

"I-I'm f-f-fine. I-I…c-can ma-n-nage." she said, stuttering, avoiding his stare.

"If you want, you could stay at home and rest. You might get tired if you'll attend the party." he said with concern.

"I'm fine. I can't afford to miss the party of my sister. And I also want to see my nii-san. So, I'll be okay." Mikan tried to smile.

"Hn."

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Much to her annoyance, Hotaru went out to get some fresh air. She head towards the hotel's garden and luckily, no one was there. She sat on one of the benches and in front of her was a mini lake. The ambiance was perfect. She sighed as she remembered what happened inside the hotel. She really did hate it when her idiotic best friend was being backstabbed, especially by her own sister. Right now, she was left wandering. What happened to Yuki? Why did she changed a **lot**? The Yuki she knew was kind and had a good heart. The Yuki she knew never acted like a total ass and she loved her sister so much. But now? Where's the real Yuki?

She closed her eyes, hoping that she'll forget what had happened.

"Can I join your company?" a masculine voice spoke, snapping her out from her reverie.

She opened her eyes and look at whoever said that.

Unexpectedly, she saw a guy who had blonde locks and deep cerulean eyes, wearing a white polo shirt with blue stripes and jeans.

"Yo." he said again as he raised one of his hand. She didn't say anything, instead she just stared at him. Without asking for her permission, he sat down on the same bench, but one seat apart from each other. Hotaru stopped staring at him and she diverted her attention on the lake.

"How have you been?" she heard him asked.

"Pretty good." she said seriously.

"I see." he said.

"And you?" she asked.

"Fine." he replied.

"Okay."

SSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEENNNNNNNCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEE

It was awkward for both of them. Neither of them spoke nor none of them looked at one another. But Ruka decided to break it. Why? Simple, he just can't take it anymore.

"Uhm…About what happened this morning, just forget it." he said which earned him a look from her. She gave him a serious yet questioning-and-demanding look. He smiled warmly at her.

"I'll be leaving this week, for France." he added.

"Why?" he heard her asked.

"Everything that happened in the past, forget all of them." he said, totally avoiding her question.

"I'm not an idiot, RUKA! Tell me! Why are you leaving?!" she demanded, raising her voice a little. Then, she just saw him smiling like nothing serious was happening.

"Because I have to. I need to." he said as he looked at her straight in the eyes.

"What a lame excuse. Pfft. Why should I even care? You could go anywhere and anytime you want, right?" she said as she stood up, her back facing him, preparing to leave. But she was stopped when a hand grab hold of her wrist. Ruka stood up and he let her face him. Hot tears started to from on her eyes though she tried to stop them from falling.

Why on earth would she cry? She doesn't have to cry since that it was only RUKA who'll leave, right? But then, she can't stop herself. The tears she tried to stop came falling from her amethyst eyes. Ruka wasn't dumb to notice this, and immediately, he wiped her tears away by his thumbed. He can't afford to see her cry. It hurts him. But he doesn't know the reason why.

They looked into each other's eyes, saving this last memoirs that they'll share with each other. Ruka cupped her face and touched her neck by one hand, caressing it. Slowly, he bent down his head to hers, their foreheads and the tip of their nose touched. She looked at his face with her eyes half-open. Just then, he closed his eyes as he slowly landed his lips to hers. He thought that she'll stop him and slap him hard on his face, but she didn't. What he really wasn't expecting was when her arms slowly made its way to his neck and she kissed him back.

"_Now I know, what I felt for Mikan was just a 'crush'. And that this is the girl that I…love." _

"_Maybe, I was loving him for a long time…I just didn't notice."_

After quite some time, they both broke the kiss as they gasped for air.

Hotaru smirked as Ruka gave her a questioning look. She took out a photo and showed it to him, but not handing it over to him. He scowled when he saw it. It was a picture of him, when he was drunk and lying on the cold floor, while drooling.

"Give it back." he said darkly.

"Why should I? This will earn me millions from your fan girls." she teased as she started walking away, with him trying to catching her.

"HOTARU!!"

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

-At a Boutique-

"NATSUME!! Will you please just stop it?!" Mikan complained as she kept on following Natsume. He has been taking different formal clothes for her to wear and he was giving it all to her. Every single cloth he takes, Mikan would hold them all. And right now, she's been holding loads of clothes that blocked her eyesight from going to where he was going.

"Could you use a little help from here?" she asked again, but Natsume ignored her. He looked at his wristwatch and looked back at her. He grabbed hold of her shoulders and led her to the dressing room.

"30 minutes. Try 'em all." he ordered as he pushed the brunette inside the room.

"How rude…" Mikan whispered, annoyed.

"I heard that!" she heard him say.

"Oh puh-lease. Just pretend you didn't hear a thing." Mikan said as she tried wearing the first outfit. After a while, she opened the door to let Natsume see if the dress fits her or not.

"Well?" she asked as he looked at her with blank expression. He shook his head before saying: "Too showy."

Mikan rolled her eyes as she went inside the room again and close the door.

"No change it."

"Full of sequins."

"Very revealing."

"Change it."

"No."

"Not that."

"Absolutely not."

"No."

"No.""No."

"You know what, I'm getting tired! And we're getting late! It was your choice in choosing these kind of dresses! You know what, I have an idea! How 'bout you wear the dress and I wear the tux?!" she said, terribly annoyed.

"BAKA! Are you out of your mind? That was like the dumbest and lousiest idea I've ever heard. Just get in there and change."

"Fine, fine, fine!! Whatever!!!" she exclaimed as she walked inside the dressing room again and closing the door. After about 5 minutes of changing, she opened the door and walked out of the room.

"Ehem. What do you think?" she asked shyly as she looked at Natsume. When Natsume turned to look at her, he can't help but stare. He was indeed speechless and he was in awe. She was clad with an elegant black gown. The gown was an 'off-shoulder' style and sorta backless. It reached above her knees and it was balloon style. She was also wearing a pair of black 3-inched heels which matched the gown she was wearing. Her long brown hair was let down and reached her waist. Although her hair wasn't styled yet, she still looked good. Not only good. She was perfect!

"_Wow. She's…Beautiful." _he thought, which of course he wouldn't say out loud. He snapped back to reality but he didn't stop looking at her.

He nodded a little and said plainly: "That would do."

"_What?! That's it?!" _she thought irritated. After her 'hardships' on trying to fit all those clothes, that's all he have to say?! What reply does she want? At least he said it would do, or else she would go to another changing-of-dress session.

"Are you telling me that you're just gonna stand right there?" he asked as he noticed her not moving at her current position.

"Uh,….no?!" she said with doubt.

"Tch. Then let's go! Such a slowpoke." he teased as he went over the counter to pay up for the dress.

"Hmph. Meanie!!" she frowned as she walked to where Natsume was.

"What with the attitude?" Natsume asked as he looked at Mikan, who was frowning beside him.

"You're gonna pay up for this dress?" Mikan asked.

"Obviously yes." he said nonchalantly.

"500,000 yen sir." the cashier said shyly as she winked at Natsume. He ignored what the girl did and just paid for the dress.

"500,000 yen?! Miss, are you sure?!" Mikan almost shouted. The cashier looked at her with an annoyed look and ignored her as well.

"Don't tell me that I will be a maid of yours again just to pay for this…" Mikan muttered and she saw him smirked….EVILLY!

"Thanks for reminding me." he said bluntly.

"Are you serious?! Will I be your maid again?!" she babbled yet he ignored her.

"…"

"Hey! Answer me!" she demanded.

"It's a secret, **flowers**. And it's your fault of reminding me." he teased.

"What's with the flowe--" Mikan trailed off and remembered what she was wearing today. Her jaws dropped, literally, as vein popped up on her head.

"You…" she whispered as dark aura engulfed around her.

"Don't dare to shout, polka. This is a public place and I bet you wouldn't want to look like an idiot, which is in fact, you are."

"Ugh." she said with disgust and to her surprise, she was dragged out of the store. Well, she couldn't do anything since his grip on her was kinda tight, so she just 'went with the flow' until they reached the car.

5

.

.

Natsume went over to the driver's seat and as for Mikan, she went to front seat beside him.

.

.

4

.

.

They closed both doors and buckled their seatbelts.

.

.

3

.

.

Mikan looked at Natsume with a terrible look and he knew what she will do next. He smirked inwardly, waiting for her to do it

.

.

2

.

.

She breathed in and out and her hands turned to fists.

.

.

1

.

.

"HHEEENNNNNTTTTTTTAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, causing Natsume to cover his ears, LITERALLY.

"You done?" he asked as he started the engines.

"You're such a PERVERT!! How did you know it was flowers?!" she exclaimed, pouting as Natsume just continued driving.

"I haven't told you, I have a clear vision. And you were the one who showed them to me. Not my fault." he said bluntly, focusing on driving.

"But still, you saw!!" she cried.

"Maybe you've forgotten, you always show me you undies. And maybe I got used to it. But you know what, I have a suggestion. Stop wearing those childish panties and wear something more matured, like a thong for example." he teased, as he began imagining what she would look like on those kind of undergarments**(Now that's what you call a real pervert!! LOL..).**

"Why should I listen to you?!" she muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest. Natsume wanted to chuckle at her reaction. She's cute, he thought.

-At a Beauty Parlor-

"Good evening miss, sir." greeted a cheerful employee as she opened the door for the two.

"Good evening." Mikan greeted back and smiled at her.

"DO your best to make her…presentable." Natsume ordered as he sat comfortably at one of the couches and began flipping a manga book. The 2 ladies led her to a room and asked her to sit on a chair in front of a shiny mirror. They examined Mikan's face and thought of what make-up and hairstyle would suit her. Not too long when the girl started applying make-up on her, while the other started to brush her hair.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"Tsubasa-nii!!" Yuki called out as she ran and hugged her brother. Tsubasa, too, hugged her back.

"How have you been?" he asked when they both broke the hug.

"I'm great, nii-san! But, where's grandpa and grandma? Won't they attend? Aren't they mad at me?" she asked.

"I'm sorry my dear sister, but they can't attend. And no, they're not mad at you." he answered as he smiled.

"Ne, nii-san, I thought you're not allowed to--mmff--" she tried to say but Tsubasa quickly covered her mouth and placed her index finger to his lips, telling her to keep quiet. He quickly let her go since he knows that Yuki got what he meant.

"I thought you're not allowed to leave their side?" she asked in a whisper.

"They allowed me to come back here. Let's talk about this later, 'kay?" he whispered back, and Yuki nodded like an innocent kid.

"Ne, where's Mikan-chan?" he asked as his eyes started to look around the corners, only to find bunch of people busy chitchatting and not even a single presence of his sister. What he didn't knew, was when he started looking around, Yuki rolled her eyes and muttered some incoherent words.

"She isn't here yet, nii-san." she said with a girly voice and faked a smile. Tsubasa then turned to look at her with a questioning look.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"I don't know. But I'm sure she'll be here soon." she smiled with mischief.

................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Mikan looked at the mirror and saw her reflection. When she saw herself, her eyes widen a bit. Maybe because of shock and she was a bit speechless.

"I-Is this...m-me?" she asked herself, which she believed that no one had heard, but she accidentally said that aloud.

"Yes it's you, miss. And you look dazzling. Now, how do you like your make-over?" the girls said in unison.

"Oh. Uhm…I-I guess this will d-do. Thanks anyway." Mikan smiled warmly as she stood up from her sit. The truth was, she didn't know how to compliment the work of the two.

"Thanks again." she said to the two and they both replied: "You're most welcome." in unison, AGAIN. She then went out of the room and looked for a raven haired lad. She looked around, until she had found what she was looking for. He was sitting comfortably at the couch, reading his manga. Slowly, she approached him. She stopped her tracks as she remained standing in front of the boy and tried to fake a cough. He knew that it was her so he didn't look and focused on what he was reading.

"Is it done?" he asked, not looking at her but continued on flipping the pages.

"Hai." the brunette replied shyly.

"Good. (He closed his manga was about to stand up) I thought that it will ta--"but he was cut off when he saw the girl in front of him so……breathtaking.

The girl in front of him had her hair down but was curled on the ends. Her make-up wasn't too thick. Just pink blush-ons on both cheeks, had a purple eye shadow, black eyeliner and not to red but not to pink lipstick which was covered by lipgloss to make it look shiny. In short, it was just right. And God, HYUUGA NATSUME sure was speechless as he saw how stunning his fiancée tonight.

In his own point of view, Mikan looked like an angel. No, cross that out. She looked like a goddess.

Then, she noticed that he was staring at her and he was quiet. She then waved a hand in front of his face, bringing him back to reality.

"What do you say? Don't I look weird tonight?" she asked him.

"N-No…You look, g-good." he said, stammering and avoiding her gaze. Well that was new. That for the **FIRST TIME EVER**, he **STAMMERED**!!

And he wasn't supposed to say "You look good". he was supposed to say "You look gorgeous" but it went the other way around.

A warm yet teasing smile from her lips caught his attention.

"Is that a compliment I hear from The GREAT HYUUGA NATSUME?" she asked with sarcasm.

"Tch. Whatever." he said as he started dragging her. Well, what do you know? Natsume has his own mood swings when he wants to.

"Choto matte!**(tell me if the spelling was correct, ne?)**" she said when they were out of the salon.

"What?!" he asked with an annoyed voice as they stopped from walking.

"Uhm. This make-over thing, I…I haven't paid yet." she said as she grinned. He rolled his eyes before saying: "You don't have to."

"And why is that?" she asked with a questioning look.

"Because mom owns that place. Now, can we go?" he replied as he dragged her again. Both hopped in the car and drove off, heading to the hotel where that party was being held.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"Keep your eyes open. Don't miss anything." Persona said secretly to Toshiiro before they separated.

Toshiiro then proceeded to the buffet section and took a glass of wine on the long table. He took a sip and glanced around, seeing people talking with each other. He just stood there, didn't bother to leave the place, sit on a chair nor start a conversation with other person.

"(-sigh-) I wonder when will the real party start." he heard a girl's voice muttered which caught his attention. He looked at his left side and saw the girl took a glass of punch and began sipping it. The girl had fair skin and short greyish brown hair. She was wearing a fit halter red gown that reached her knees and showed her curves. He stared at her secretly for a moment, until another girl caught his attention. Who, at the moment, was approaching the girl taking a sip on her glass of punch.

"Luna, you were here all along, eh?" the girl asked.

"Oh **Yuki**. I just took a punch. I'm getting bored, you know. I mean, the party didn't start yet." Luna complained.

His eyes widen a bit because of shock. He tried to keep his composure and looked at the carpeted floor.

"_It's her." _he thought as he continued to listen at their conversation.

"What a creep. It will start now. I don't care if Mikan arrives or not, but it will start **now**." she explained before they heard someone speaking on stage.

"See? My mom's on stage." Yuki winked.

"Finally." Luna exclaimed.

"_How heartless could she be? She wasn't like that before as far as I could remember." _he said in his thoughts as he watched the two girls walked away. He then drank the wine continuously, annoyed at what he had heard.

His eyes landed on the entrance(not literally), and he saw a brunette walked in, with a raven-haired guy. He stared at her and find her fascinating tonight. But then, when he saw the guy beside her, he didn't know why but he felt irritated when he saw her with him.

"Who's he?" he asked, particularly pertaining to no one. He continued to look at them as they sat on the designated seats. Again, he took another glass of wine and started to drink.

The room was noisy, maybe because of the loud musics or maybe because of the person speaking on stage. But he didn't care. He just stood there with the same routine, drinking wine. He noticed that the guy stood up and went to someplace God-knows-where, leaving the girl.

He only stopped drinking when he noticed a hazel eyed girl with auburn hair approached him.

"Toshiiro-kun?" he heard her say with a questioning remark.

"Mikan-chan! Didn't know you were here." he said to her as they exchanged laughs.

"So, how're you doing? You had a fever a while ago, right?" he asked.

"Oh. I'm fine now. I don't know why, but when Natsume found me at the middle of the street, my fever disappeared. (-giggles-) I find it weird though." she said to him.

"Natsume? Hyuuga Natsume?" he asked, his eyebrows twitching.

"(-nods-) Hm. Wait a minute, you know him?" she asked.

"Not that much. I just heard that he's the heir of the Hyuuga Industries, which is known world wide." he answered.

"Hehe. Yeah, he is." Mikan giggled.

"What about you, Toshiiro-kun? I haven't heard anything about you from my sister. Sorry for being rude but, what's your business?" Mikan asked as she gave him a grin.

"Hmm. Let's just say that, you'll be seeing me quite often starting from now on. Your sister was a long time friend of mine, didn't she tell you?" he asked and Mikan shook her head. And he just chuckled.

"I guess my nee-chan is starting to get secretive nowadays, ne?" Mikan muttered as she walked and stood in front of the table.

~grr~

Her stomach growled, loud enough for Toshiiro to hear. Mikan hurriedly looked at him with an embarrassed look, while he tried to control his laugh.

"It's ok Mikan-chan. It's normal." he smiled a genuine one.

"But still, it's embarrassing." she pouted and he let out a laugh.

"See?! You're now laughing at me." she pouted even more.

"You're so cute." he managed to say.

"Really?" Mikan asked with disbelief, a smile formed in her lips.

"Of course. Now, why don't you feed your grumbling tummy?" he teased and she heard her laugh. He then handed her a plate of T-bone steak and a glass of soft drinks.

"Thanks, Toshiiro-kun." she said as she walked out heading to her table.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"Hotaru!!" Mikan called out, as she attempted to hug her best friend but failed to do so.

"Ow! What was that for?!" she whined as Hotaru poked her hard.

"For you trying to hug me." Hotaru said sternly.

"You're so mean." Mikan said.

"So?"

"Ugh."

"Ne, Hotaru-chan, why do you look so blissful today?" she asked with an idiotic smile.

"Blissful?"

"I saw you and Nogi-kun all so lovey-dovey." Mikan said.

"Lovey-dovey?"

"Hm.

"Shut up."

"Mou, why don't you tell me, ne?"

"Because your so loud."

"Promise, I won't be. Is there something going on between you two?"

"Why? Are you jealous? And what if I said yes?"

"WHHAATT?!!"

"I thought I told you to shut up."

"Oops. Sorry."

"Whatever."

"What happened? I thought you didn't want to see him again?" Mikan asked again, this time, she's serious.

"(-sigh-) I…I don't know. When I heard that he'll be leaving this week, I felt something inside me that flinched. I didn't want him to go either." Hotaru answered. (**Whoa! Minna-san, is this the Hotaru we all knew?)**

Mikan stared at her, waiting for her to continue whatever she was saying.

"Then it happened. He kissed me…and I responded." Hotaru continued as she bit her lower lip, recalling the sweet moment she had with him a while ago.

"Ne, looks like this isn't the Hotaru I knew." Mikan giggled and Hotaru looked at her with a blank expression.

"Do you like him?" Mikan continued.

"Hn. Mikan, what's going on?" Hotaru asked.

"Huh? Going on what?" Mikan asked, playing dumb.

"You know what I mean." Hotaru said and Mikan began telling her everything.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The party went on for about 3 hours now. Couples started to dance on the dance floor. Of course, if you went to a formal occasions like these, dances are always there. Ruka asked Hotaru to dance, which she gladly accepted but didn't let it show. Mikan sure was happy for her. She watched them dance and smiled. After knowing about Riko, she sure pitied Hotaru. But now, now that Ruka was beside her, she only wished that Ruka will be beside her. Well, she had a crush on him before, but past is past right?

She sighed as she looked at her hands which was on top of her lap.

"May I ask this beautiful lady to dance with me?" she heard a manly voice asked so she looked up to see who it was.

"Tsubasa-nii?!" she blurted as she stood up and hugged him.

"I missed you, nii-san!" she cried.

"Me too." he answered.

"How are you?" he added.

"Ehe. I'm fine. Very fine, nii-san. How 'bout you?" she asked.

"I feel great. Especially when I saw my favourite sister." he said and patted her head.

"Let's dance, shall we?" he asked and Mikan agreed.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

"You look so happy tonight." a masculine voice said as he sat down beside Mikan. Mikan smiled cheerfully at him.

"Yeah. I'm so happy. Because I've seen my nii-san a while ago. And my best friend got her special someone for her to take care of. Who wouldn't be happy in that manner?" she answered.

"You're right. Would you like to dance?" he asked her, showing his right hand to her. When she was about to accept it, a hand grabbed her owns.

"Who are you?" a cold voice asked, glaring at Toshiiro.

"I'm Mikan's friend, and you are?" Toshiiro hissed.

"Friend? Tch. Friend my butt." Natsume said, still glaring at him, his grip on Mikan's hand tightened.

"Natsume, please stop." Mikan said, trying to let go of his hold but failed to do so.

"Shut up, little girl." he ordered.

"Look, I don't care who you are. But you're being rude." Toshiiro said.

"So? Don't go near her again." he said with venom as Toshiiro scoffed.

"Why? Are you her husband or something? Who are you to her anyway?" Toshiiro exclaimed as he tried to get Mikan. But Natsume stopped him, pushed him and punched him square on his face.

"I'm her fiancée, you jackass!!" he raised his voice, earning few stares and everyone's attention.

Mikan was shocked to see this so she ran to his side.

"Toshiiro-kun, are you all right?" she panicked.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Again, she was about to touch his punched face but Natsume pulled her hands and started dragging her out of the hotel.

"Let go." she complained but his grip tightened even more, causing her to wince in pain.

………………………………................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Natsume and Mikan arrived at the mansion. She was obviously ignoring him because of his attitude he did to Toshiiro. She hurriedly hop out of the car and entered the house directly. She was already at the staircase when she heard him banged the door, so she stopped to look at him.

"Who's that guy?" Natsume snared, looking at her with an intense glare.

"Who? Toshiiro-kun? The one you punched back there?" she asked with a bit of mock.

"Whoever he is. He deserves it anyway. I don't want to see you hanging out with him again." he said, annoyed, or should we say, heating up because of **JEALOUSY**.

"Why? What do you mean? Can't I hang out with a friend? And why did you just punched him like that?! You don't even know him." she asked curiously, her eyes and brows twitching because of annoyance.

"Friend? You're being too close to him!! And who cares if I know him or not!! I don't want you going out with him again, or any other guys." he ordered, raising his voice.

"Pfft. What's your problem?! And what's with you ordering me around?! I'm no kid! You've got nothing to do with me either." she retorted.

"I'm you fiancé for Heaven's sake!!" he exclaimed as he started walking near her.

"So what? Like it matters to you, or worse, even me."

"Well, it does. It does matter to me!!" he was now inches away from her.

"What? Are kidding me? Why does it even have to mat--" she was cut off by warm lips that crashed into hers. Her eyes widen in shock and she was surely surprised by his actions. Totally forgetting the reason what and why they fought. She didn't know what to do. Will she respond to his kisses, will she ignore him and let him kiss her, or will she stop him?! She didn't know. But then, the kiss that he gave her was full of emotions and so passionate in which she can't damn ignore. It was hard for her, especially it was Natsume who had kissed her.

Suddenly, she felt a strong arm snaked around her waist and a hand at the back of her neck, pushing her closer to him. His kisses deepened, she closed her eyes and she obliged on kissing him back. She gave in. She responded. And just like instincts, her arms started to find its way behind his neck, pushing him closer to her, without her knowing.

She then felt him took a step forward, causing her to move back or take a step up the staircase. Without breaking the kiss, Natsume lifted Mikan up into a bridal style as he took her to his room. He opened the door and closed the door by his right foot. He eventually laid Mikan on his bed, gently as he went on top of her, not wanting to break the kiss. Then they both stopped and gasped for air, still in those position. Mikan being under him and Natsume being on top of her.

"What was that for? And did you really have to do that just to shut me up?" she asked, between breaths as she glanced at his hypnotizing crimson orbs. It's not that she hated what he did, in fact, she enjoyed and definitely loved it. Hello, why would she kiss him back in the first place if she didn't want to do it?! He then kissed her forehead and start caressing her cheek.

"I'm jealous as hell! So please…Please don't go hanging out with someone else, especially other guys! I'm forbidding you to do that!" he said as if he was pleading. Mikan smiled in return as she touched both of his cheeks. She finds him cute when he pleads, and it was her first time to see him act this way.

"And could you tell me why were you jealous?" she asked seductively.

"I'm not jealous." he defended himself as he tried to hide his blush.

"If you're not jealous, then why are you acting like one? Admit it, lover-boy. You're jealous, aren't you?" she teased.

"Tch. Whatever." he shrugged.

"Ne? Tell me why, Natsume. Please?"

"You're being too close with that Toshiiro guy. What else?" he frowned a little and she noticed this, she giggled.

"Is that all?" she asked again, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I…I…l-love you." he confessed and she saw the sincerity in his eyes, causing her heart to thump like crazy and blush furiously.

"You do?" she asked which was almost in a whisper.

"Hn." he replied as she gave him her most sweet and angelic………..SMILE.

Then again, they kissed but it was Mikan who pulled him into a kiss. She broke it and glanced at him.

"Aishiteru wa, Natsume-kun." she finally said.

**-tbc-**

**Sorry for the late update. Well, at least I updated, right? Anyway, what do you think? Was it lame? Was it mushy? Corny? Didn't suit to your liking? Please care to leave a review. How 'bout a long review for a long chapter? Or maybe, more reviews for a long chapter, ne? Again, I may not update for a while due to my school activities. Fully loaded I say. Now, why don't you try reading "****A Stupid Date with my Stupid Idol****" or "****The Sassy Girl with the Hunky Nerd****" for a while. And maybe this weekend, I may be able to put up a new ONESHOT story entitled "****Regrettable Decisions****". I guess that would be all the informed updates for now. Arigato, minna-san. Ja.**


	15. Mystery15

**Here's the most awaited chapter…I guess?? Sorry for the long wait. Something TERRIBLE happened and I was also hooked up with my school activities…I hope you'd understand me…**

**To those who reviewed on chapters 13 and 14, namely:**

_neenaame: _**oh yes, pinoy po ako..hehe..ty po sa review.~xD**

_krizka fierce: _**thanks for greeting me last 4 months…xenxa na kung natagalan ang pag thank you ko sayo. Thank you nga rin sa review.^_^**

_Mangalover: _**I bet half of your question was answered in the last chap, and half WILL be answered in this chap(just figure out what they are! LOL)…thanks for the review:D**

_dragonslay: _**you don't have to apologize for not reviewing for the previous chaps. It's fine for me, as long as you're liking it :**

_nuyun: _**once again, thank you for the encouraging review…you never fail to inspire me with your reviews…thank you so much..=]**

_HarunaNiwa073_

_kazukarin_

_btrflyies_

_Crystal Chime13_

_maxeyn_

_GakuenAlice GIRL_

_CourtneyJo_

_celinaaa. _

_gaga_

_manga-girl-freak_

_abbyciel_

_lovepikachu12_

_Tear Droplet_

_Blitz45_

_Hanisakura_

_zairil20_

_Chocolatexpudding_

_agus-chan_

_..brown._

_Amuto15_

_dijanexryoma-kun_

_yueyuuko_

_Natsume0Mikan_

_Not so Naïve_

_Kizuki_^_^_

_Thunderous-Ice-Storm_

_TyniNightmare_

_huyutsakura_

_Fullmoon527_

_WhiteMoon1_

_XOXOanimefanaticXOXO_

_animerulezgirl_

**THANK YOU SO MUCH MINNA-SAN, FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! Oh yeah, ANNOUNCEMENT!! We're almost halfway to the end. Yes, halfway. You've read it right, HALFWAY!! And the mysteries are starting to unfold one by one. So stay tuned for the next chapters. Though I'm not sure if you'll like how it'll end, but I hope you will. Review!! No FLAMES accepted!! XP**

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**Disclaimer: I. DO. NOT. OWN. GA AND GA CHARACTERS. HAPPY? LOL! =]]**

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**Chapter 15: "First Snow"**

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"_Hey. Are you okay?" an auburn haired girl asked as she approached the guy who was beaten up recently. When he heard the girl, he looked at her but snorted and rolled his eyes. _

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* * *

_

"_Toshiiro…" a girl whispered, looking down at her lap._

"_Riki…"_

"_Take me…" the girl pleaded._

"_What?"_

"_I want you to take me.."_

_

* * *

_

"_Remember this?" she asked as she removed the locket which was currently around her neck._

"_The LOCKET." he said as he recognized what the girl showed her._

"_That's the REAL LOCKET." _

"_Then, what about the LOCKET Mikan has?"_

"_It's fake." _

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* * *

_

"_Unfortunately, DNA's like you have its end." a feminine voice said with menace as she held the gun and pointed it at her opponent's head._

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"_YUKI!!" he shouted her name in anguish. _

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"_Any last words, Riyuki Sakura, or also known as, Riki Hikowaka?"_

"_You'll definitely pay for this!"_

"_All right, Sayonarra!"_

_

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_

* * *

"Nee-chan!!" a certain auburn haired girl screamed, beads of sweat were now flowing on her face. She was obviously waken up by a nightmare, a terrible nightmare to be exact.

"Yuki-nee…" she whispered as she started crying. Remembering what had happened earlier, she wasn't able to talk to her sister in a nice way. Or maybe yet, she really wasn't able to talk to her sister at the party. She felt worse recalling how her sister treated her at school, but despite that, she was still her sister after all. Then what? A bad dream? A nightmare about her sister? And why is Toshiiro included in her dreams? What does that mean?

Thinking about those just made her cry more; thus waking up a raven haired lad from his previous comfy sleep. Curious as to why his love of his life was crying, he had no other to choice but to comfort her, and he did. He hugged her from behind and tried to calm the crying girl who was in his arms.

"Natsume…I saw Yuki-nee…someone shot her…and-and--…" the girl sobbed and hugged the lad back.

"Hush now…it's just a dream, 'kay? I'm here, don't worry. I wont leave…" the guy whispered lovingly.

"Let's just go back to sleep, hn?" he continued as he planted a peck on her forehead whilst wiping her tears. Feeling comfortable in his arms, she nodded and they went back to their previous slumber, not forgetting to hug each other.

But, Mikan can't just go back to sleep. She was still thinking about her dreams.

"_The locket." _she thought as she touched her neck and felt the object in her palm. She carefully took it off around her without waking Natsume up. The lights were out, surely she can't take a clear view of her locket. It was a good thing that there was a lampshade beside her, on top of the bedside table. She looked back at Natsume, who was sleeping comfortably, and opened that lamp. She looked closely at her locket, seeing that there was a unique carvings.

"_**Why did Yuki-nee said that this is fake? She never did have a locket like this, didn't she? Or was it the locket grandma gave her? And why did grandma once told me not to open this thing? Jeez**__." _she thought and tried to open it. Unfortunately, she can't.

"What's with this?" she whispered.

"What're you doing?" a deep manly voice asked which crept her out.

"Oh, sorry for waking you up." Mikan apologized as she turned off the lamp and lied down beside him.

"If you can't sleep, go back to your room." Natsume said coldly. (**A/N: Just to remind you[if ever you forgot], Mikan is living at the Hyuuga mansion because they are engaged. Part of the agreement Natsume and Mikan's parents/grandparents had.**)

"FINE!" Mikan said, annoyed at how Natsume talked to her. She was about to hop out of his king-sized bed, but he stopped her by pulling her.

"You really don't know what a joke is, do you?" he teased.

"It's not a joke, you meanie!" she pouted and he poked her hard.

"Ow!" she complained, rubbing her head.

"Where's my gift?" he asked.

"Gift? For what? It's not your birthday, is it? And it's not Christmas yet, right?" she asked, deeply thinking of what occasion is coming up.

"Dimwit. It's almost Christmas, and my birthday was last November." he explained.

"Eh?! Why didn't you tell me?! We should have celebrated your birthday!"

"You could make it up for me."

"Okay, I will. But you should tell me what gift do you want, as long as its affordable. Or maybe I could make one for you. Tell me, what do you want?"

"You…" he whispered, audibly enough for her to hear. She blushed, though it was dark, Natsume still knew that she was slightly embarrassed because she turned quiet, and he smirked.

"Uhm…A-aside f-from--"

"I want you. That's all." he said and pushed her on top of the bed.

"N-Natsume, l-let's just g-go b-back to--"

"Could I take you?"

"T-Take me? W-What d-do you m-mean?"

"You do know what I mean, _Mikan_."

"A-Aren't you moving too f-fast?"

"Who cares? We're engaged anyway."

"E-Even though. I…I-I'm not yet r-ready, _Natsu-kun_."

"I know, I'm just testing you, polka." he said and wenton the other side of the bed

"For now, just…don't get too close from guys. I don't care if they're your friends or acquaintances, just…stick with me…" he continued, and to his surprise, a pair of arms were now snaking around him, hugging him for short.

"Enough with the drama, okay? We still need to wake up early tomorrow, ne?"

"Sure thing, flowers."

"Such a pervert!"

* * *

"Oi!" a guy called out for the umpteenth time now, but the girl just groaned.

"Oi, wake up you sleepyhead!" he ordered as he hit the girl with a pillow, causing her to wake up from her deep slumber.

"Jeez, Natsume! Can't you at least give me five more minutes?!" she complained.

"Tch. If you don't want to get up, then it's fine with me. You better walk your way to school coz I'm going. Oh yeah, I'm planning on buying **howalons** later."

Her eyelids flung open when she heard the word:

"HOWALONS?!" she said and raised up from her current position.

"_**If only I had said that a bit earlier…"**_Natsume thought and rolled his eyes.

"You'll buy howalons?!" Mikan said dreamily as she began to daydream about her eating those delicious howalons.

"I just said that." he said, breaking her moment of daydreaming.

"NATSUMEEE!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Shut up, big mouth! You better get ready and wipe that drool on you face." Natsume said as he walked out of his room.

"Stupid, perverted, maniac! Why did I even fell for that guy?!" she muttered as she opened the door and went back to her room.

* * *

Before she completely walk inside the bathroom, she looked outside the window and saw tiny white objects falling from above. She went out of the balcony and saw that it was snowing.

"I never realized that winter has arrived." she said to herself as she watched the snow.

* * *

-Alice Academy-

"_Yey! Christmas Season is coming!"_

"_I can't believe that time flies by so quick."_

"_What do you plan for Christmas?"_

"_**I wonder, what will I give for Natsu-kun? A polo shirt? Teddy bear? Handkerchief? Pendant?" **_Mikan asked herself, not participating on what her friends were talking about.

"Mikan-chan!!" Sumire called out and she successfully caught her attention.

"Oh. Hi permy." Mikan smiled, oblivious to the fact that Sumire was calling her for the 10th time now. Sumire just rolled her eyes.

"_You sure are an idiot at times." _she thought.

"What were thinking?" Anna inquired.

"Yeah, you were spacing out just now." Nonoko added.

"Oh, was I?" Mikan asked dumbly.

"Baka.." Hotaru whispered.

"Oh. Hi Hotaru!" Mikan greeted and was also greeted by the ice queen's baka gun. She cried in pain.

"What was that for?!" Mikan screamed.

"For being an idiot and for being loud." Hotaru said emotionless.

"Big meanie!" she muttered and went back to her seat, which was no longer beside Natsume.

Just then, the classroom door opened and their homeroom teacher walked in, with his usual weird clothing.

"Class, I have an announcement to make so you better pay attention." Narumi-sensei said.

"Since it's almost Christmas time, we're planning on having…….

"_**Ne, where's Natsu-kun? Oh I know. Maybe he's under the Sakura tree, obviously cutting classes. But where's Yuki-nee? Could she be sick? *sigh*"**_

"Understood?" Narumi-sensei said looking intently, catching Mikan's full attention.

"_**What did he say?!" **_

"He said that there's going to be a party and you're the one who's in charge." Kokoroyome said to her. Mikan gave him a questioning look. How the hell did he knew what she as thinking?!

"Any questions Ms. Sakura?" Narumi asked.

"Uh, no sensei." she said.

"Very well then. Self study my lovely students." he said before walking out of the class.

"Just now, what with that?" Mikan asked Koko.

"I don't really know, Mikan-chan. It started just this morning." Koko explained.

"What started Koko?"

"I started to hear my dad's thoughts like 'Last night was fun', and for my mom's like 'Very exhausting'. I didn't know what that means and I also thought that they were saying it out loud so I asked them. But they were shocked when I told them and they told me that it was their thoughts."

"Could you read everyone else's minds?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then, read mines."

"I can't."

"And why not?"

"I don't know. It's like you're trying to…**nullify** it. But I could still read everyone else's."

"That's weird…" Mikan whispered.

* * *

**Very SHORT I know coz this was rushed up. Sorry though. Anyway, any good guesses? So, why did Koko began to read minds? And as for Mikan, she can nullify what Koko's doing? Sorry for the VERY late update. I was thinking of NOT updating but since it's Christmas, this will be my Christmas treat for all of you, readers and reviewers. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR to all of you. Belated happy birthday to Hyuuga Natsume as well. REVIEWS people. Till the next chapter.**


	16. Mystery16

**-Dedication Corner-**

**TO:**

**moonlight800 - **haha…if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to update again. Thanks for reviewing. :]

**Nuyun -** aww…you really do inspire me more because of your reviews. Thanks=]

**Maan^_^ - **haha…salamat dahil nagustuhan mo story ko. Don't worry, I'll get rid of her soon. I hate her too you know..hehe=))

**Hanisakura - **thank you ;)

**krizka fierce **- hehe…you're welcome Krizka. Oh, I guess you've been in Amicus? I'm Nadine-slash-maxhiine. LOL:]]

**Blue_09happy **- haha…don't worry, I'm not annoyed, YET. Hehe…just kidding. Thanks for the review ;]

**Takara-Hime27 **- thanks;]

**HarunaNiwa073 **- haha...he really is cute. :P

**Tear Droplet - **haha…sorry if it confused you. :D

**SaKuRa-cHaN41 **- here's the update! Thanks for your review;P

**sparkling-Ryuichi Sakuma **- "YUKI IS A CLONE! OR IS YUKI A GIRL THAT WAS CREATED USING THE DNA OF MIKAN'S DEAD TWIN?" Clue? Either of those two. :

**Moonacre99 **- yeah, they do have it again. Haha..ty;d

**Shayurae **- thanks;)

**Kyrum no Tsubarashii **- about Hotaru getting the premonition? Haha…idk, I just made it up ;d

**TyniNightmare **- thank you;]

**Huyutfsakura **- haha..Toshiiro's cute? I know right! So who do you like better? LOL =]]

**Fullmoon527** - ty:P

**GakueanAliceGRL **- ty:P

**animerulezgirl - **thanks:P

**Passionate Stranger - **thankies =]

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_RECAP: _

_"Could you read everyone else's minds?"_

_"Yeah."_

_"Okay then, read mines."_

_"I can't."_

_"And why not?"_

_"I don't know. It's like you're trying to…nullify it. But I could still read everyone else's."_

_"That's weird…" Mikan whispered._

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_Chapter 16: "Behind these Alices!" _

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"Nullifying? Cool. What about now? Can you read my mind?" Mikan asked grinning like an idiot.

"_Your fly is open." _she thought, smirking. Koko, who read Mikan's thoughts, looked down on his pants to see if his fly was really open, but it wasn't. When he turned to look at her, she was laughing, which slightly annoyed him.

"Not funny Mikan-chan." he hissed, but she didn't stop, instead, she continued laughing while holding her tummy.

"You should have seen your face Koko!" she said between her laugh.

"Stop it!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry, it's just…you were funny!" she giggled. But her giggle was stopped when she saw Yuki and Luna came in. They were chatting cheerfully, like what normal best of friends usually do. But when Yuki turned to look at Mikan, her smiled turned up-side-down.

"What's wrong Yuki?" Luna asked, as she saw her so-called 'best friend', frowning. Yuki looked back at Luna and smiled at her before saying; "Oh nothing. I just saw someone who's bound to make my day _miserable_." emphasizing the last word.

When Mikan heard what Yuki said, she felt a slight pain in her chest. She looked away, hurt. How could Yuki, her sister, treat her that way? She felt like she was just a trash to her and that she needs to get rid of it. It did hurt her, of course. She loved her, but she didn't, or maybe she did, but she changed. thinking about all the memories she had with her sister, was truly unforgettable. They were inseparable, cared for each other, loved each other, and they were like the 'best of friends'. But now, what happened to the bond they shared? Mikan felt like crying because of those memories. But no, she wont cry, definitely not.

"_Something's wrong, and I could feel it. She's not Yuki-nee, the sister that I used to know. It's strange, and I ought to find out what has happened."_ she thought. Fortunately, she still had the chance to nullify the mind reader. Although Koko was a trustworthy guy, she wont share her thoughts with him. She knew he was best buds with Natsume, and she can't afford to let Koko tell Natsume what she feels. Not now. Or maybe not ever. She shook her head and started what checking what her classmates were doing.

"Weird. Don't they have powers as well?" she mumbled.

"Hey, what is that thing?" Koko asked, pointing onto something that hung around her neck. Mikan looked at what he was pointing and she noticed her locket.

"Oh, this?" she said, touching the locket.

"My mom gave me this few years ago. She told me not to open it, I don't know why." she replied. Jus then, she heard a clanking sound coming from Hotaru's place.

"What's she doing?" she asked out of the blue, seeing her best friend holding a hammer, and then later on, holding a screwdriver.

"Hmm…Why don't I let her open this thing?" she whispered. She then stood up and went to her.

"Hi Hotaru!" she greeted her and grinned.

"Idiot. What're you doing here?" she said coldly, not even bothering to look at her because of her inventions.

"Uhm--" she then removed her locket around her, placed it on top of her table and; "I need your help in opening this thing." she whispered.

"In exchange for?"

"$450?"

"$1000."

"$500?"

"$900."

"$600?"

"$800."

"$650?"

"$700."

"Deal." Mikan said and Hotaru took her locket.

"You're so greedy, you know that?"

"Like I care about what you're saying."

"Hmph. Meanie."

* * *

--Meanwhile--

"OMG, would you look at that." Luna whispered to Yuki, pointing secretly to where Mikan and Hotaru was.

"Whoa. Trying to open the locket huh?" Yuki said in a low voice, smiling mischievously.

"This is going to be interesting. I wonder what will happen." Luna commented, taking a good look at them.

"We'll see about that. For now let's just watch." Yuki hissed, swinging her right foot over her left, a wicked smile plastered on her face.

Unbeknownst to them, someone read their minds.

* * *

**Koko's POV**

This morning, I totally can't believe that I was able to read my parent's thoughts. Cool. Now I could read other's thoughts, why not use it on class? When I arrived at the classroom, I was disappointed to know that Sumire's absent. I was really looking forward in reading her mind, but fate wasn't on my side I guess. Oh well, I'll just wait till she comes to school. I sat down on my place, in front of Mikan-chan's. She has no seatmate because of Yuki. Somehow, Yuki annoys me. I don't like her attitude towards Mikan. Mikan used to be sitting beside Natsume but Yuki insisted on sitting beside him. I don't even think that they're sisters at all. I was able to refrain myself from reading else's minds, but not when Narumi came in. he started blabbing about the school's event and I accidentally read what Mikan was thinking.

_"Ne, where's Natsu-kun? Oh I know. Maybe he's under the Sakura tree, obviously cutting classes. But where's Yuki-nee? Could she be sick? *sigh*" _I smirked, she was actually worried for Natsume, and she didn't heard what Narumi said to her. Haha…

"Understood?" Narumi-sensei said looking at Mikan.

_"What did he say?!" _she said again so I decided to help her.

"He said that there's going to be a party and you're the one who's in charge." I told her but she gave me a questioning look. She maybe curious as to why I knew what she was thinking.

"Any questions Ms. Sakura?" Narumi asked.

"Uh, no sensei." she said.

"Very well then. Self study my lovely students." he said before walking out of the class.

"Just now, what's with that?" she asked me.

"I don't really know, Mikan-chan. It started just this morning."

"What started Koko?"

"I started to hear my dad's thoughts like 'Last night was fun', and for my mom's like 'Very exhausting'. I didn't know what that means and I also thought that they were saying it out loud so I asked them. But they were shocked when I told them and they told me that it was their thoughts." I explained.

"Could you read everyone else's minds?" she asked me again.

"Yeah." I told her.

"Okay then, read mines." She told me and I began reading hers. But now, I can't. it's like she was stopping me from reading her thoughts, like she was nullifying it.

"I can't." I told her.

"And why not?"

"I don't know. It's like you're trying to…nullify it. But I could still read everyone else's."

"That's weird…" Mikan whispered.

"Nullifying? Cool. What about now? Can you read my mind?" Mikan asked grinning like an idiot. I didn't hesitate again to read her mind, so I agreed.

"_Your fly is open." _she thought, smirking. I was shocked. I mean, all this time, my zipper was open?! I looked down to check if it really was open, and it wasn't. I sighed in relief, at least I wasn't a bit humiliated. But I heard Mikan-chan laughing. I can't believe she tricked me.

"Not funny Mikan-chan." I told her, but she just kept on laughing.

"You should have seen your face Koko!" she said between her laugh.

"Stop it!" I exclaimed. Now I learned my lesson, and that is not to read other's thoughts. I tried reading her mind again but I guess she nullified it. So I just read everyone else's. But then, something around Mikan's neck caught my attention.

"Hey, what is that thing?" I asked as I pointed onto that silver thing. Mikan looked at what I was pointing.

"Oh, this?" she said, touching the it.

"Locket. My mom gave me this few years ago. She told me not to open it, I don't know why." she replied.

"_Oh."_ I thought, not bothering her anymore, but still, I could read her mind and everyone else's.

"_What's she doing?" _

"_Hmm…Why don't I let her open this thing?" _

"_OMG, would you look at that." _

"_Whoa. Trying to open the locket huh?" _

"_This is going to be interesting. I wonder what will happen." _

"_We'll see about that. For now let's just watch." _

Oh my God. I knew it. Yuki's not someone you could really trust. Even her own sister? She'll do something like that? Wait, I don't get it. Mikan said that she can't open the locket so she asked for Hotaru's help. If Mikan was able to open the locket, then something will happen. But what will happen? And these mind reading thing, was it also connected with the Mikan opening the locket? Okay, seriously, something's happening. And what is it? Or maybe it was just my imagination? Or maybe I'm just out of my mind today. I guess I should just leave it to fate. But I'm really going to tell Natsume about Yuki and Luna.

**END OF POV**

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"Are you sure about this?" Hotaru asked, looking intently at the locket she's holding.

"Honestly, no." Mikan grinned.

"Then don't let me open this ghastly thing, baka." the Ice Queen said as she handed the locket back at Mikan.

"Ghastly? It ain't ghastly, stupid." Mikan retorted as she wore the locket back. Hotaru them looked at her coldly and she realized what she just said.

"Oops. Sorry for the name calling." she apologized.

"Frankly speaking, I don't think it's good to open that thing."

"Huh? Why not? It's just a locket."

"Just a locket. Right. You know what, just come over to my house later, bring my cousin along with you."

"Sure. But I thought you'll be having a date with Ruka?"

"He'll be better off without me. Besides, he'll have to take care of his pets. I heard him talking to them once." Hotaru answered as she was doing something.

"That's the longest reply I've ever heard from an Imai Hotaru." Mikan snapped.

"Whatever." the Ice Queen muttered and rolled her eyes.

"I wonder if that's Ruka's power?" she thought, out loud, making Hotaru curious with what she said.

"Power?" she asked, looking suspiciously at Mikan.

"Oops. Uh, Koko, come over here for a second." Mikan called out and Koko didn't hesitate to listen to Mikan.

"Read her mind." Mikan ordered.

"_Not again?" _Koko thought before reading Hotaru's brain.

"_There's a big hole on your butt." _Hotaru thought and Koko turned to look at Mikan.

"Is there really a hole on my butt?" Koko whispered at her. Mikan, being dense and all, checked if there really was.

"I don't see a big hole on your pants. Why'd you ask?" Mikan asked out loud, and everyone who've heard what she said, burst out laughing.

"Idiots." Hotaru remarked and rolled her eyes.

"Jeez. What was that for Hotaru?" Kokoro whined.

"Nothing." replied the Ice Queen.

* * *

--Unfortunately--

"Ugh, darn it! She was about to open that damn thing!" Yuki whined when she was inside the girl's comfort room. She breathed in and out, obviously annoyed with what she saw back there.

"You'll see, Mikan. Your time's drawing near." she smirked evilly.

* * *

-Somewhere-

"Where's the notebook, Leira?" Zyon asked, hoping he'd get a positive answer from her.

"It's in my treasure chest, hidden underground." Leira answered as she sat down on a chair, looking outside the window.

"Zyon, what do you think will happen? The kids from that _secret_ school gained back their alices." she asked, looking back at Zyon.

"How'd you know?" Zyon asked, flabbergasted with what his wife had said. He then took a sit beside her, while Leira looked away from him, gazing at the view outside the window.

"The principal told me earlier." she answered.

"Then that's a good thing. Menllin once said that they won't retrieve their alices if Mikan started writing on the notebook. But I guess it's the other way around, eh?"

"When will she stop, Zyon?" she asked in a low, yet sad voice.

"I…don't know."

"You know, I've been thinking. All these years, we've been hiding from her, it's such a waste. If only…if only you chose to be with her, I guess everyone would have a peaceful and quiet life. If only, you didn't stop Okaylo from killing me--"

"Stop! Just, stop it, Leira! The students had gained back their alices and the only thing we need to do is to train them on how to use it." Zyon said as he stood up. He was about to walk out from the room, but he stopped when he heard Leira asked; "What about the locket and the key?"

"Mikan has the locket, and I know she tried to open it. The only thing she needs now is the key. But, where is the key?" Zyon replied not looking back at his wife.

"The key? It's with her fiancée."

* * *

**to be continued**

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Hmm...What do you think? Yeah, I know I know, I updated LATE! Forgive me, ne? I'd accept whatever you'll say about me, just forgive me for updating so LONG!! Am I getting so melodramatic? hehe...Anyway, at least I updated. Reviews, ne? Don't forget them 'kay?

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**Reviews please!!**

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